Renegade (Underdog Book #8): LitRPG Series
Author: Alexey Osadchuk
Date: 2022-05-04 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy
Description: Битва с ордой некроморфов проиграна. Лесоград захвачен темными тварями. Лисолюды, бросая свои дома, вынуждены искать спасения за Узким озером. Орден охотников на чудовищ, потеряв свой главный город, находится на грани исчезновения. По сути, лишившись своего главного союзника, гномы остаются один на один с армией Стального короля. Все попытки Эрика остановить врага были тщетны ― Альрак Бессердечный и другие темные первородные слишком сильны. Прикрывая отступление друзей, Эрик использует запретную магию, за что Великая Система лишает его звания магистра и объявляет отступником. Невзирая на сокру

Renegade

a novel
by Alexey Osadchuk

Underdog

Book#8

Magic Dome Books

Underdog

Book #8: Renegade

Copyright © Alexey Osadchuk  2022

Cover Art © Valeria Osadchuk 2022

Designer Vladimir Manyukhin

English translation copyright © Andrew Schmitt 2022

Published by Magic Dome Books, 2022

All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 978-80-7619-526-4

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is entirely a work of fiction. Any correlation with real people or events is coincidental.

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Table of Contents:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

About the Author

Chapter 1

DARKNESS SURROUNDED ME. Inky. Impenetrable. Quaking. And famished.

It was persistently attempting to gulp my conscious mind into its belly ― its vile, stinking, bottomless belly. But it never got close. Because I was fighting back.

My unwavering resistance drove it into a state of rage. Apparently, it wasn’t used to that.

I don’t know how long our silent showdown lasted ― a fraction of a second, a year, a century… Or maybe the very concept of time was nonexistent there. But eventually, Darkness’s violent onslaught diminished. It decided to change tactics. It came to the negotiating table.

“You must submit to Me!” it hissed contemptuously. I could hear notes of impatience and annoyance in its voice.

“I don’t have to do anything for anyone.”

“Do you not wish for power?” the Darkness asked ― sincerely surprised.

“Not like this,” I replied. “What good is one more slave to you anyway?”

“Who said anything about slavery?” more surprise in the voice.

Hm… Now that rang false.

“Funny… You’re contradicting yourself.”

“What I need is a sidekick!”

“Yeah, in shackles.”

“I will share power with you,” the Darkness proclaimed.

It isn’t lying.

“You will become Great!” it continued making loud promises. It must have taken my silence the wrong way. “Do you really not wish for power and greatness?!”

“I’ve been called great before…” I responded with a sigh. “Now all those who once called me that view me as a heretic and enemy.”

“Now, I am your friend!” the Darkness exclaimed cheerily.

“That’s rich…” I muttered.

“With My help, you shall conquer the entire world!” it thundered. “All your enemies shall bow at your feet!”

“What about my friends?” I chuckled.

“What need do you have for friends if you have Me?!”

“Hm… Good point… That would make things easier, wouldn’t it?”

“Well, of course!”

It missed my sarcasm. But who am I kidding? It didn’t miss a thing. It’s just playing with me.

“I see what you’re doing,” I whispered.

“You’re testing My patience, mortal!” the Darkness barked back furiously.

“And you mine,” I responded calmly.

“You cannot resist Me for long!” she ratcheted up the pressure. “Soon or later, you will be mine!”

“I guess that remains to be seen…”

A moment later, I felt a slight push. Did she really think that now was the time for an attack? I felt another push. And another after that. And another…

I got on guard. I tried making a move. But nothing was working.

Meanwhile, the Darkness around me gradually started to thin. Light started streaming in through little gaps. They grew quickly, joining together and forming long slits in the dark shroud. And light started pouring in through those slits. It was faint, dim, but still it was light! After a long dark night, it was like seeing an old friend again!

Meanwhile, the pushes kept coming, in fact growing more and more insistent. Beyond that, another voice appeared in my head.

“Master, wake up! Open your eyes! I know you can hear me!”

That put me on guard. What? Who? What does it mean “master?” Eyes?

That’s right. Eyes! Open my eyes!

As soon as I did, the Darkness disappeared completely. Light flooded everything around.

The first thing I saw when my eyes got used to the light was a strange semi-transparent human silhouette. But before I started feeling afraid, my memory obligingly informed me that it was my keeper spirit.

The pushes stopped coming immediately. I squinted my eyes to focus. The spirit’s opaque tentacle-like appendage came to rest on my shoulder.

“Finally.”

I frowned. Was it just me or had the voice in my head taken on grumpy notes?

I took a look around. Low lighting. Stone roof. I could just barely hear the sounds of distant surf. Yeah, that’s it. Sounds like waves.

I sniffed the air. It made me wince. Sweat, piss, shit. And all the aromas seemed to be emanating from my body…

“Water,” I rasped with a dry throat.

Just then, the spirit stirred and a second later, the narrow mouth of a wineskin was pressed to my lips, dispensing a dark lilac liquid.

Before I could even ask the spirit what it was, my parched throat practically burned with a cool sensation. I squinted, gratified. A wave of vigor ran through my body. I felt much better. I started feeling a lightness in my whole body. But not for long. The strange potion only lasted just over a minute before I was again overcome by weakness.

“What’s going on?” I rasped.

“You are cursed,” the voice in my head told me calmly. “See for yourself.”

Taking the spirit’s advice, I immediately opened my stat window and zoned out for a minute. At first, my brain refused to think. I had to reread the same sentence several times, but gradually I got a handle on my mind and realized what had happened.

Abyss! Why is this happening to me?!

It’s right. I am cursed. But that is not all. I was afflicted by not one but two curses. The first I got from Alrak the Heartless. Its name was Exhaustion Curse. About as nasty as they come. It cut the size of all my supplies down to a tenth, and my regeneration and wisdom down to a twentieth. Beyond that, the effect of any potion, or strength-restoring or healing spell was minimized or cut to a very short duration.

But that was not the end of my woes. The cherry on top was the Heretic Curse, my “reward” from the Great System. I knew I’d taken it too far with the orbs of darkness, and my reputation with the Hunters had dipped to zero, which was how I ended up labeled a renegade. But I did not know that Darkness was in such a rush to take advantage of my incoherent state and had slapped its mark on me.

The Great System wasn’t far behind, either. As if it wasn’t enough for her to release all the hounds on me, or rather announce a manhunt for me by promising my former friends a handsome reward for my head, she had also left me with a curse.

And her curse essentially blocked the majority of my spells and skills. And specifically, it took away everything connected with Light, Forest, Chaos and of course the Order of Monster Hunters. Which also applied to several of my artifacts.

With a fated sigh, I closed my eyes.

“It’s not that bad,” the voice in my head said.

I winced.

“Not that bad? I lost access to my most powerful spells and skills. My perks are blocked. A few of my artifacts, like Ava’s Bracelet are now nothing more than worthless trinkets as far as I’m concerned.”

“And yet, you’re alive.”

I opened my eyes sharply. The spirit’s words had a sobering effect.

“Yeah, you’re right. I am alive! I should thank you for that.”

“There’s no need for that. As long as you’re alive, I will be, too.”

“Why might that be?” I asked in surprise.

“I am your keeper spirit,” it responded vaguely. “I have a stake in making sure you don’t die. We are one and the same.”

“In other words, you’re like my pet?”

“Yes and no,” it responded. “Our bond is stronger. If you were to die, the summoning amulets would disappear, and your pets would be set free. I though would disappear along with you.”

“What makes you so sure of that?” I asked. “And how do you know all that? After all, as far as I understand, you were only just born.”

“True,” the spirit replied. “I was born the moment you gave me permission to leave the confinement stone. And as for how I know things… In the downtime between improving golems, I studied the manuscripts in the Order’s library and archive.”

I frowned.

“What do you mean studied?! Wait… How’d you get access?!”

“I am your pet,” the voice in my head laughed. “Remember?”

That or parasite… I still need to get that nailed down.

I struggled to keep my composure. I was starting to like the spirit’s roguish style less and less.

“What’s got you so tense?” the voice asked right away. “You and I are one and the same. I am unable to hurt you.”

“Yeah, so you claim,” I decided to speak freely. “Where’s your proof? With pets it’s obvious. I can see their status and relationship to me. As for you, though, I don’t get anything like that.”

“I agree,” the spirit responded suddenly. “That I did not consider. I am alien to the Great System. That is why you cannot see any information about me. But it isn’t because I’m hiding it. No. The system just doesn’t have enough data about me yet. Or beings like me.”

“You read that in the library, too?” I asked.

“Of course,” the spirit replied shortly.

“Odd. Somehow, I never stumbled upon any books about that in there,” I bluffed.

All the while, I was trying to make my voice sound steady.

“Magister Romas’ Treatise on Otherworldly Entities. Volume Two. Page one hundred twenty-eight,” the spirit rattled off.

To say the prompt and exhaustive answer stunned me would be an understatement. My eyes crept up into my forehead despite my best attempts. Holding my breath, I asked:

“And how many books were you able to read?”

“I studied and memorized all the information in the library and archive,” the spirit responded before adding: “I should note that there was a lot of useless junk like notes about the Order’s internal procedures or manuscripts copied from original sources, but still there was plenty of interesting stuff.”

“But how can that be?”

“Your mind,” the spirit responded and repeated yet again: “You and I are one and the same.”

“Meaning my characteristics are your characteristics?”

“Not all of them. Only those in the Mind branch.”

“What about the rest?” I chuckled.

“Negative effects from spells or injuries do not apply to me.”

“Of course, they don’t…” I muttered, then stumbled and tried to sit down. And succeeded. After patting down my arms and legs, I came to the conclusion that the terrible pain had passed. Honestly, I also no longer felt the same lightness in my body. All because of that necromancer’s curse. May he rot in the abyss!

“By the way, how were you able to heal me?” I asked. “After all, I remember Alrak giving me quite the thrashing.”

“The necromancer is powerful.
My recommendation is that you stay as far away from him and beings like him as possible. I’m still struck by his might and cannot fathom how you… uh… or rather how we were able to survive.”

“Pyrus’ Signet saved my butt again,” I explained.

“You think so?” I heard doubt in the spirit’s voice.

“What do mean?” I got on guard.

“Insufficient data,” the spirit dodged. “When I am ready, I will tell you.”

Bug glitch you…

“How’d you heal me? It’s hard to believe my pathetic current regeneration could have done it…”

“Primordial blood,” the spirit responded curtly.

“Ah, gotcha,” I snorted. “Use a lot?”

“All of it.”

“Wha-at?!” I shuddered. “But I had more than ten vials!”

“Reread the description of the necromancer’s curse. It blocks practically all healing elixirs.”

I heard derision in the spirit’s voice. I also got the feeling my mistrust wounded it.

“Alright, alright,” I grumbled. “No offense intended. And thank you. You hear that? I’m being sincere.”

“I know.”

“You a mind reader?” I got on guard.

“No. Our oneness does have its limits. I can only sense your emotions.”

“So, how long was I out?” I decided to change the topic.

I felt beside myself. Maybe I shouldn’t have been dumping all this on the spirit.

“According to my calculations, by the standards of your world, you were unconscious for just over a month. Or to be more precise, thirty-eight days, six hours and thirty-four minutes.”

“I see, that means… What, what did you just say?! What do you mean ‘by the standards of my world?!’“

I felt a treacherous chill run down my spine.

“Ahem…” the spirit hesitated. “The thing is… Basically, we are not in your world.”

While I tried to select the most appropriate curse, the spirit spat out a rapid-fire explanation:

“After I got you out of Foreston, I had to spend several days evading pursuit. The wraiths only gave up on the edge of the Forest. And when I thought we were safe, the Forest suddenly attacked us. Or rather, you. I had to go back. For a few days, they were both tracking me…”

“What did you do?” I asked coldly, meanwhile having a hard time holding back my anger.

“I went to a place where nobody would ever find us. Using an otherworldly portal, I brought us to one of the fallen worlds. I did have to leave the golem, though… It led the pursuers away to the east…”

The spirit said the last part more to itself. Seemingly, it regretted parting ways with its creation.

I took a quick look at my hands, then at my feet. I felt my face and head again.

“What are you doing?”

“I have a body,” I said, puzzled. “How is that possible? My Amulet of the Wanderer is blocked. And that means I should be like a spirit… And how was I able to make it through the portal with no amulet?”

“You bear a mark of Darkness,” the spirit answered shortly. “You can travel to any fallen world in your own body.”

I closed my eyes and slowly stretched out on the ground. The thoughts in my head scattered like panicked rabbits. I was caught in a storm of mixed emotions: fury, bafflement, fear, rage…

The spirit stayed with me the whole time keeping tactfully silent. And really, it’s right. We are connected. I can also sense its emotions.

“Spit it out,” I said shortly. “Your emotions are making it hard to think.”

“Well, are you planning to go back and face down those monsters again?”

“You better believe it.”

“That’s what I was afraid of…”

“If you have nothing more to say, keep it to yourself. You’re making it hard to think.”

“We need a plan,” the spirit said fatedly.

“Now that’s more like it. Can you help?”

I heard a heavy sigh:

“Where else can I go?
We are one and the same now. Remember?”

Chapter 2

I SPLASHED MYSELF CLEAN in a puddle by the far wall of the cave then walked over to the exit. As an aside, the spirit told me in no uncertain terms not to drink the water, and I wasn’t going to. The puddle carried an unmistakable odor. And after washing up, I did my best to avoid that part of the cave.

Despite the water quality, washing up brought relief both to my body and mind. My brain got to work. However, the longer I came to my senses and started realizing the position I was in, the more my mood started to sour. And when I took a closer look at my parameters, I started spiraling.

I would have to forget about the King Nidas spells. They were all blocked by the Great System. Just like Avatar and Shield of Chaos. The four perks I got in the citadel of chaos were also marked blocked. Same went for Forest’s Blessing, Blade of Vengeance, and Arrow of Wrath. And the bonuses I got for belonging to the Order of Monster Hunters.

My artifacts were trapped in the same debacle. The arsenal potions, spheres, scrolls and everything else were now just dead weight in my pockets. Good thing they have no weight and take no space.

Black Widow’s Mask, Ava’s Bracelet, the Amulet and Backpack of the Wanderer… Ah… Right now, all of them are basically just useless junk. And it’s all because of that damned mark of Darkness!

I must have said the last part out loud, because the spirit chimed in:

“Still, Darkness helped you out with the armor.”

“I don’t understand.” I shuddered. “What do you mean?!”

“Well, when you were unconscious, it reached out to me…”

That felt like a punch to the gut. So, all these conversations with Darkness were not mere fruits of my imagination?!

Meanwhile, the spirit continued. It spoke quickly, clearly already detecting the first signs of the thunderstorm gathering overhead.

“Look, I had to make a decision fast. If not for Darkness, you’d have no armor right now. And that Will fit for a king… Basically, Darkness kept you out of slavery.”

“And what happened next?” I barked.

“It improved my skill in transforming objects and items.”

I breathed a fated sigh. So that was how I’d gotten the Dark Hunter armor suit. And here I was racking my brains over how it all worked out so well. I even chalked it up to aid from the Higher Powers. And essentially, I was right, it just wasn’t the specific powers I was picturing. So, Darkness wanted me for its new plaything.

“For the record, I spent almost all the Sparks of the Otherworld on transforming your armor suit,” the spirit grumbled, sounding hurt.

“Yeah, and what about the fact I gave you all of them?” I snorted.

“And another thing. For the same reason, I spent the whole time you were unconscious altering satiety potions and feeding you the enhanced elixirs,” the offended spirit put forth another argument. “Because there’s nothing in this world you can eat. Essentially, it’s a fallen world.”

“So, you spent a whole month feeding me those potions?” I clarified, no longer with malice.

“Yes.”

“Now I see why I feel like an old wreck. My regeneration and wisdom, even being so badly cut, should have been able to restore my inner reserves. But those potions, even enhanced, are not to be abused.”

“I know,” the spirit sighed. “But I didn’t have any other choice… We had to survive.”

“Alright,” I muttered. “Don’t feel sorry for yourself. What’s done is done.”

“Sure,” the spirit answered me in kind. “You could at least thank me.”

“Well, I thought you did it for yourself,” I laughed. “Or are you now saying you didn’t?”

“I basically did… But still…”

“Alright,” I waved a hand in exhaustion. “Thank you! Happy?”

“Sure…”

“Better you tell me how you managed to go unnoticed right next to the necromancer. And to transform the armor suit at the same time.”

“Well, he wasn’t right next to us at the time,” the spirit answered eagerly. “He slammed you with a spell, then claimed you as his trophy before moving on to slaughter more foxfolk. In the end, it was a day before you got the dark mark, and by then the necromancer had gone to the other side of Narrow Lake to open the portal.”

“Then why didn’t you pull me out earlier?”

“That vile old woman was standing watch,” the spirit replied. “She’s beyond my abilities. I found a convenient opportunity when the Steel King and the others got distracted by the wanderer who traveled to the tomb of the founder.”

Then I snapped.

“Do they have the crown?!”

“Don’t know,” the spirit answered. “But I would dare to suggest that yes is more likely than no. It just pained me how cocky the king was acting before sending the wanderer into the portal. And I already told you what came next.”

I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead up against the scratchy surface of a stone wall.

“Egbert outplayed us like stupid children! His servants virtually rolled through our defenses!”

“It’s somehow all…” the spirit said dubiously before falling silent.

I got on guard.

“What’s the matter?”

Choosing its words cautiously, the spirit started to speak.

“You see… I’ve had some time to think through a lot, replay the memories of all the information I learned from the Order’s vaults… To line up certain facts…”

“Spit it out…” I hurried him along.

“The first mention of Alrak the Heartless is found in a chronicle about the Age of the Dead Wars. The downfall of King Nidas, as the main competitor to the forebearer of the present Steel King, left the door open for the Steel King to conquer the whole continent. But for some reason, he didn’t. Or rather, he conquered it, but as liberator from the army of death, not leading it. After that victory, there isn’t another word about Alrak or any other Dark entities in the chronicles. It’s as if they went up in smoke.”

“And now, a few centuries later, they’re back as if someone just waved a magic wand…” I said thoughtfully.

“That’s right,” the spirit encouraged me. “And they are again subservient to the Steel King.”

“And what part of that bothers you?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” the spirit asked ― sincerely surprised. “Why with such crushing power at his disposal, has the Steel King not yet conquered the entire world? What made his ancestor concoct a fairy tale about defeating the legions of death? After all, he could have become ruler of this world even back then.”

“Are you saying Alrak and the other almighty Primordials only returned to our world recently?”

“It seems very likely,” the spirit replied.

“Well, they sure picked a good time,” I said dubiously. “Right when…”

“Egbert needed them most,” it finished for me.

“So, you’re saying he summoned them somehow?”

“Yes…” the spirit answered. “But that raises several questions. For example, why did Egbert’s ancestor let Alrak go in the first place. Or for instance, why didn’t Egbert summon the Primordials earlier?”

For some time, we both said nothing. The spirit was right. This really was food for thought.

A few minutes later, the spirit decided to reassure me.

“Do you really want to do battle with those monsters again?”

“You already know my answer,” I responded.

“But what’s in it for you? After all, you don’t owe a thing to anyone!”

“It’s my decision,” I threw out coldly. “I have friends who need help.”

“Hmm… Alright. But your determination won’t be enough. These entities spent centuries amassing power… And even at the peak of your abilities, you were unable to stand against them. And you’re far from that, now.”

I glared angrily at the semi-transparent silhouette hovering in midair a few paces from me.

“I have a plan,” I said and took a temporary growth sphere out of my pocket.

The spirit snorted.

“An intriguing solution, but it’s still early to consider. Or are you planning to use the sphere right now?”

It said the last sentence with a tremble in its voice.

“Of course not,” I responded and heard a sigh of relief. “Who do you take me for?”

“It’s hard to answer that question,” the spirit dodged.

“Are you mocking me?”

“No,” it answered honestly. “I simply do not consider all of your actions to be rational.”

I chuckled.

“Are you talking about me wanting to keep up the war against Dark forces?”

“Hm… to a certain extent, you are now Dark yourself,” the spirit said and hurried to add. “And yes, I see no point in dying in battle against an opponent you know outclasses you from the outset.”

The spirit’s words made me wince. Who could have thought the supreme magister of the Order of Monster Hunters would turn Dark? I wonder what would happen if I went to see Gallia or Pinebogey. Would they now try to kill me? It was hard for me to believe, but the lack of friendship amulets was evidence to the contrary.

Were the trolls and foxfolk now my enemies, as well? Amber and Onyx by the way were no longer my familiars. The notification said they refused the “honor” of their own free will.

I was doing everything I could to keep myself from thinking that Mee was now also an enemy.

Still, no one had taken my pets away. Though Bug alone could say where they were. And more importantly, how Coal was doing. Hopefully, his regeneration was able to cope with the wounds. Thinking back on the giant brothers who practically killed Coal, I clenched my teeth in anger. Those bastards have put themselves on top of my hitlist!

To distract myself from the dark thoughts, I looked back at all my ephemeral pockets. And was surprised to find the amulet I’d gotten from the kobold matriarch. I spent a few minutes staring wide-eyed at it, as if I’d never seen it before.

“Is something the matter?” the spirit sensed my emotion straight away.

“Who would have thought that the only ally not to turn against me would be Lu-Moa?” I asked, puzzled. “But I guess that’s less straightforward. We swore a blood oath to each other.”

“Hm… I don’t see any oaths,” the spirit said thoughtfully.

I didn’t get it.

I quickly checked the oaths tab and froze. There was nothing about the oath there.

“But how can that be?!”

“I didn’t see the text, but I imagine it will be because you swore the oath as supreme magister,” the spirit quickly found an explanation. “That would invalidate it.”

“If that’s true, then I’m even more confused.”

“What’s bothering you?”

“The fact that kobold matriarch did not turn against our alliance even in the absence of an oath.”

“Sure, but that’s a good thing!” the spirit exclaimed, adding a positive edge to its voice. “We still have friends!”

“Maybe so…” I whispered thoughtfully. “Maybe so…”

“By the way, there was something I was curious about,” the spirit quickly changed the topic. “What were you planning to do with that sphere exactly?”

“As you saw, my level is too low to stand up against Alrak. And yes, I understand perfectly well that it’s still too early to use the sphere. I need more tablets first.”

“I ran a few calculations,” the spirit came. “Right now, there are very nearly nineteen million experience essences in your backpack. That would be enough for you to jump directly to level forty-six. You can bring all your characteristics to the ceiling for forty using Silvers and other basic tablets. From forty to sixty-five you’ll need gold tablets. At present, you have almost five thousand of those. More than enough to cover you up to level sixty-five. After that, you can only level with Diamonds. You have five hundred of those. To get a rough idea, let’s say you had enough esses right now to use all your tablets. We’d be able to keep you at max up to level seventy-two or -three. So, considering everything I said before, your Strength for instance would be over seven hundred points. I’m not gonna argue, you’d turn into a very dangerous opponent even with the spells you have left. But you’d still be a weakling in comparison with the Steel King and his Primordial henchmen.”

“I already knew that,” I snorted.

“Then what was your plan?” the spirit asked.

“First of all, we have to find Gorgie and the snakes. The five of us stand a better chance of surviving and prevailing together. We’ll need a lot of resources to make ourselves stronger. Tablets, esses, crystals.”

“Sparks of the Otherworld, too,” the spirit threw in.

I nodded.

“Sparks of the Otherworld and Orbs of Darkness.”

“Has it occurred to you to get rid of the Dark mark?” the spirit asked.

“Yes, it has,” I answered honestly. “But practice has shown that Dark entities fear Dark magic most of all. So, this way, I can give the brutes a taste of their own medicine.”

“Correct!” a loud hissing echoed through the cave.

It came so suddenly, I crouched down and activated Muckwalker’s Defensive Aura. The spirit shuddered and hid behind me. I wanted to summon the Ysh, but another hiss followed:

“Don’t waste your mana, you fool! You think your flimsy defenses can stop me?”

A treacherous shiver ran between my shoulder blades. I recognized the voice. It had been following me all that time in my nightmares. The cave immediately grew dark.

“I get the sense I’ve been recognized,” the hissing voice said mockingly.

“What do want?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. The spirit meanwhile said nothing.

“You know what I want.”

“You know my answer!”

“You’re such a little fool,” I heard snickering. “But you are entertaining. I love watching you squirm.”

The darkness around me congealed. It was on the verge of swallowing us up. I felt a panic growing inside. I distantly realized that the emotions were not mine. The keeper spirit must have been on the brink of an outburst.

“Okay!” the Darkness chuckled, taking a step back. “I can wait…”

The black aura started to disperse. I meanwhile was able to breathe normally again. With a loud out breath, I slid down the wall to the ground and covered my eyes. What an utter brute!

“Oh yeah!” the hissing came again. “I almost forgot! Here’s some info. Magister Timps’ Treatise on the Properties of Items. Page twenty-eight.”

― Attention! Higher being (Error!) would like you to study page 28 of Magister Timps’ Treatise on the Properties of Items.

Reward for completing mission:

― Knowledge.

― Do you accept?

Chapter 3

IT HAD BEEN TWO DAYS since I woke up. Two days in my world. In local time, as the spirit explained, I had only been conscious for twelve hours, all at night. It was somehow aware that time flowed differently here.

To my eye, night here was little different from day. When I took my first peek out of the cave, I couldn’t make out anything particularly well. Just shadows as far as the eye could see. Only after a little while staring strenuously into the darkness did I make out the outlines of the nearest rock faces, and the sound of a distant sea which carried with it a distinct smell of rot.

As a matter of fact, if not for my fifty points of Night Vision, transformations and senses, I wouldn’t have even been able to see that.

But the spirit asked me not to use magic vision. As it turned out, the local creatures it called “predatory entities,” could sense upwellings of magic. While we were deep in the cave system, the rock walls blocked magical emanations. But a mage activating a spell out in the open would be equivalent to a bright flash of light in the night sky. And every nearby predator would make a beeline toward the light.

Almost the entire time since I’d woken up, I was on pins and needles. My soul was crying out to return to my world. I had to take action. I had already spent far too much time lying around unconscious. Then the spirit came and added fuel to the fire. It quoted a few treatises on other worlds saying time passed differently in them. But I mercilessly drove off all thoughts that hundreds of years might have passed in my homeworld. Still, based on the keeper spirit’s suspicious silence on the matter, it did not seem to be confident that would not be the case. And that silence was driving me even crazier.

And speaking of treatises…. After talking about it, we decided to accept the Higher Being’s mission. We didn’t see anything too bad in finding some book and reading one page of it. To tell the truth, I was hoping the spirit already knew the book but, alas, it let me down. There was no such treatise in Foreston’s vaults. We agreed that as soon as we came back, the spirit would start studying every library or bookshop we came across.

After accepting the mission, I spent a little while feeling indignant at the mysterious entity’s bizarre whims. Why make it so hard? Why send us off to find some treatise when it could have simply told us what it said? When I asked the spirit my questions, it told me its view of the situation. Several of the Order’s books contained mention of Higher Beings, Great Powers or Gods. The basic idea was that they, these gods and beings, in order not to upset the balance, were not entitled to help their mortal proxies directly. Only tangentially, for instance via rewards, achievements, or completing missions. The spirit also threw me for a loop with information about the gods and higher beings themselves, of which there were very many. As it turned out, Darkness was multifaceted. And not all Dark gods were cut from the same cloth. In their reality, they were far from all allied. The spirit suggested that my mark was clearly different from the Steel King’s or Alrak’s. And that our shared affinity for Darkness did not make us friends.

All that news left me very confused. Sure, I knew the gods existed, but it was just all so baffling… To tell the truth, I now understood why my mysterious “patron goddess” wanted to transform my armor suit. To scare off competition. Over my two days of contemplation, I also concluded that being her “sidekick” might be to my advantage. On top of that, I had already made up my mind to give the darksiders a taste of their own medicine.

The Dark Hunter Armor, by the way, was little different from the Founder set. The stat boosts stayed the same, but the collection bonus for having all seven items had changed.

With nothing better to do, I yet again opened the list of special effects from my new armor set.

― Searches for Places of Power (active)

― Damage in hand-to-hand combat (unarmed) increased by 40%

― +1000 defense

― Increases energy supply capacity by 40%

― Increases life supply capacity by 40%

― Sense streams of mana, energy, and life

― Reveal Essence

― Collection bonus:

― Unlocks Dark Hunter Fury Supply

The bonus before was the spell Founder’s Hand. It created a magic aura for five hours, increasing resistance to Dark magic by sixty percent for me and my allies. Instead of Hand, I was given a fourth supply and a brief description of what it could do.

If I understood the description properly, the fury supply would fill up based on how many of my enemies died. I could then spend my fury reserves to power up my attack spells.

It was still too early to celebrate my new acquisition but, if fury was even half as effective in battle as orbs of darkness — bad guys, look out!

Yes, I had lost the defensive aura, but practice had shown that it didn’t ever particularly help. And really, enough defending myself! The time had come to attack!

* * *

The next morning was almost exactly the same as the night. The same shadowy light making it impossible to see outside. But if the spirit said it was morning, there was no point arguing. I trusted it completely. Today was the day we decided to finally leave the cave and head out toward the portal. It would be a three-day journey. And not our days, local ones.

I was reminded of a recent conversation.

“Why the Bug did you drag me out to this cave?” I asked the spirit. “So far from the portal.”

“Less predators,” came its whispered reply.

After my “patron goddess” left us, I asked the spirit to try speaking out loud because our mental conversations kept ending in splitting headaches for me. And given I had quite the talkative keeper spirit, my head was in near constant pain. Overall, when I heard it whispering quietly, I breathed a sigh of relief.

“The area around the portal is positively teeming with hungry creatures,” the spirit continued. “It’s basically a nonstop feeding frenzy. After such a strict diet, a fresh piece of human flesh would be a huge delicacy. We’re really lucky it was daytime when we crossed over here. If we showed up at night, we wouldn’t be here having these stupid conversations.”

“So, what happens to them during the day?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I think they basically go blind. Even though you can’t see the sun here, it does exist. And when it appears on the horizon, in some way it blocks their magical senses. I got lucky. I found a big burrow next to the portal and spent my first night there. And in the meantime, I also studied the local creatures. Then I decided to get away from the portal. And we’re basically going to have to retrace my steps. We’ll spend the night in sheltered locations, then move out after sunrise.”

And now today, the sun finally came up and we got moving. To be frank, I had already started losing my mind with all the sitting around and dismal thoughts. I was constantly under the impression that every second I spent here was costing me years there. And so, when the spirit said we could get underway, I had a hard time keeping my composure.

My overall state only added to the problems. My body was crying out for regular food and water. My regeneration, meager though it was, kept chipping away at my inner reserves. My life and energy supplies were in a pitiable state. I was much thinner and frailer. If not for the magic supply and diet of elixirs the spirit made for me, I’d have been long dead. Thankfully though, mana wasn’t a problem in this world the same way it was in Mink’s.

I once almost activated Gulper’s Lair. But thankfully, the spirit realized my intention before it was too late and talked me out of the thoughtless move. I had to keep magic to a minimum, or nearby predators would quickly track us down. The spirit keeper was under no illusions about whether we’d be able to fight them off.

“Ready?” it asked quietly when we stopped at the cave exit.

I quickly scanned my main characteristics.

― Level: 0

― Mind: 119

― Strength: 181.6

― Agility: 139.4

― Endurance: 50

― Health: 50

― Intellect: 80

― Wisdom: 6.3

― Will: 628

― Regeneration: 5

― Defense: 1000

― Speed: 90

― Accuracy: 90

― Life supply: 547/1177.4

― Energy supply: 723/1401.4

― Mana supply: 9613/12099.4

Then, I skimmed my available spells and skills.

— Gulper’s Lair

— Gulper’s Shattering Ram

— Glitterspark Eel’s Chain Lightning

— Muckwalker’s Defensive Aura

— Muckwalker’s Aquatic Regeneration

— Fiery Paw

— Ice Arrow

— Ice Golem’s Breath

— Red Scolopendra’s Sixth Sense

— Blackblood Mother’s Canopy of Invisibility

― Incineration

― Oblivion

― Damage Dispersal

― Stone Spikes

― Ice Spear

― Charm Dispersal

― Accelerated Regeneration

― Burst

― Fracture

― Curse of Weakness

― Strength Replenishment

― Decay of the Abyss

― Cohesion with Pet II

― Arbiter

I checked my blades, footwear and armor suit. I looked around, and quietly responded:

“Ready.”

“Then let’s go,” said the spirit and left the cave.

* * *

Our first day of travel was uneventful. At first, I felt like a blind kitten. If not for the spirit patiently keeping me from falling and constantly showing the way, I’d definitely have gotten lost.

But after a few hours, I was again able to navigate better, while my vision finally started adapting to local conditions. After that, I could tell where to walk on my own, which made the spirit’s job a lot easier.

A few times, my guide ordered me to stop and wait somewhere while it went out to scout. Usually, when the spirit came back, we had to hurry off to the right or left, sometimes doubling back a bit to steer clear of the lair of some nasty creature hiding from the sun which, for the record, I had yet to catch even the slightest glimpse of through the dark fog. A strange world. Now, I see why the spirit called it “fallen.”

“A stellar performance!” the spirit whispered in excitement when we made our way into a deep stone burrow at the bottom of a ravine to spend the night.

Before that, we had been conversing mentally, exchanging clipped phrases so we wouldn’t get distracted.

“We’re making good time!” the spirit’s continued to rave. “We even bypassed one of my shelters.”

“Makes sense to me,” I shrugged and sat down wearily on the stone floor. “This time, you don’t have to lug my unconscious carcass around.”

We really are doing great, though. If we keep up this pace, we’ll make it to the portal by the end of day two.

“Listen,” I found the courage to ask a question that had been bothering me for a while. “Are you certain there are a lot of predators around us? Honestly, I haven’t seen a single one yet.”

And that’s true. Not a single one. Neither hide nor hair. I did not want to think the spirit might have been keeping the truth from me. But I’d also already learned to read its emotions. With every hour, I understood its moods better and better. And in its turn, the longer it spent at my side, the more character it gained. It was becoming more human, alive, authentic or something…

“You should be happy you haven’t seen one yet,” the spirit snorted. “And thank me for it.”

“Thank you,” I easily let slip. The spirit really liked being thanked for some reason. And meanwhile, it couldn’t always recognize sarcasm in my voice.

“For the record, last time we walked the edge of a knife the whole way,” the spirit expressed. “There was this big herd. If I hadn’t spotted it, we wouldn’t be here talking now.”

I was settling in for another one of the spirit’s trademark self-congratulatory speeches but, for some reason, it suddenly stopped. Then, a wave of panic and horror virtually bowled me over.

“Don’t move a muscle!” I heard a shaky voice in my head.

I immediately felt the spirit’s fear. All the hairs on my body instantly stood on end.

“What’s going on?” I asked mentally.

“They’re here!”

Trying to hold still, I slowly turned my eyes to the right. At first, I didn’t see anything and was about to ask the spirit whether all the horror stories were mere fruit of its imagination, but before I could open my mouth… Right opposite me, a big, huge something blotted out the entrance to our shelter. The opaque whitish spot at first had no definite shape, but that ended at the exact moment it slipped all the way into our burrow.

It looked most of all to me like a jellyfish. Long, slimy tentacles, a wide bell-shaped body. Much to my surprise, the system gave it a name ― Hydroid Spirit. I did not see any parameters or level on the milky white monster, though.

“What are we gonna do?” I asked.

“Don’t move,” the spirit responded quickly. “It can’t see us yet. Maybe, it’ll just keep moving. Don’t you dare use magic!”

“How did it find us?”

“No clue,” the spirit responded earnestly. “I don’t think it knows we’re here.”

“You think it just drifted in here randomly?” I expressed doubt. “Maybe it followed our tracks.”

“What?” the spirit asked ― sincerely surprised. “But we weren’t using magic! There’s no other way it could have found us.”

Meanwhile, the gap between me and the Hydroid Spirit was slowly closing. I could already easily make out the flexible little filaments lining its tentacles. I squeezed my body up against the rock wall, scared to even breathe out of turn.

Finally, the opaque jelly stopped. After a few slow full rotations, it started bumbling toward the exit.

“It’s leaving!” I heard relief in the spirit’s voice. “Looks like it did come here rand…”

But before the spirit could finish gloating, the jellyfish seemed to sniff us as it stopped short then turned and shot straight toward me as fast as lightning.

“No!” the spirit exclaimed fatefully.

Strangely, the shout broke my body out of its rigid state, and I got started. During our travels, I had thought up strategies I could use against this place’s monsters. And the first thing that came to mind after talking with the spirit were my summoning spirits.

― You have summoned the spirit of the Longtailed Ysh!

A rippling, opaque, serpentine body immediately coiled around me. And just in the nick of time. One of the jellyfish’s tentacles was about to touch my shoulder.

When the tentacle touched the snake’s body, the Ysh’s flat head gave a sudden twitch. The System told me immediately that damage had been absorbed by the shield. The jellyfish was able to take down just over ten percent of my defense. Only around two thousand points. Not too bad. To be frank, I was expecting more. Still, if I had to fight against several of these Hydroids at once, the shield would not have lasted long.

The hideous tentacle sunk into the snake’s body and started to vibrate rapidly. Meanwhile, my defense points slowly started dropping. I was about to summon the Black Armorbug spirit for backup, but before I got the chance…

The Ysh did something it had never done before ― it counter attacked the jellyfish! In one solid burst, it left my body and coiled tightly around the Hydroid, which looked taken aback by the insolent conduct. The coils started slowly constricting, suffocating its victim.

The now ensnared jellyfish tried to move a few times, but that only made matters worse. The pressure only increased. Gradually, its whitish body started to fade. And a few seconds later, it was gone without a trace.

I then was looking on with my mouth agape. How? What is going on here?

As if having heard my thoughts, the Great System distracted me with yet another notification:

― Attention! Spirit of Longtailed Ysh has successfully absorbed Spirit of Hydroid!

When I finished reading, I stared stunned at my protector, who once again wrapped its coils around my body. A short text appeared over its triangular head:

― Spirit of Longtailed Ysh

― Transformation stage: 0 (9%)

“Would you look at that!” the spirit exclaimed in astonishment.

“I wasn’t expecting it myself,” I uttered, still stunned.

But before we could finish our conversation, another white spot appeared in the burrow entrance…

Chapter 4

THE NEXT CREATURE that made its way into our shelter looked like a hornet. The System called it a Clacker. And for the record, the name fit very well. Whereas the hydroid moved and attacked in total silence, the semitransparent wasp’s wings gave off a faint clacking sound.

The clacker slipped into the cave and came racing our way immediately. Like the last time, the Ysh reacted instantly. In one sudden burst, its coils started constricting the flying intruder. That absorption lasted less than a minute. The clacker wasn’t even able to deal any damage.

― Spirit of Longtailed Ysh

― Transformation stage: 0 (21%)

I didn’t know yet what would happen when the transformation hit a hundred percent, but I was instinctively happy with the way things were going.

The spirit did not share my optimism.

“Looks like we’re in trouble,” it whispered fatedly, watching three hornets try to sneak through the door at the same time.

“Don’t cry,” I cut him off, even though at the time I was regretting giving out all the spirit vials I’d earned recently. “We should try to get out of the cave.”

Meanwhile, one of the wasps, the smallest and most nimble was able to slip inside nevertheless and, clacking away happily, flew at us. The Ysh took it into its strong embrace midway, though.

Unlike the last one, this restless creep managed to sting its attacker with a curved stinger before disappearing. That brought the shield down another two thousand points. Small but feisty. It did more damage than the hydroid.

“There are too many of them!” the spirit panicked.

“Shut it!” I barked out loud. “Stick to relevant observations!”

After absorbing the little hornet, the Ysh quickly turned its attention on another flying creature. As an aside, beyond the fact the nimble little one did pretty serious damage, it also only added six percent to the Ysh’s transformation progress.

The snake’s next victim was a massive clacker, which slammed full force into the pileup of dead bodies that had formed at the entrance. With a no-nonsense chirp, it tried to sting the Ysh, which dodged gracefully and again constricted the big, huge creature’s body and suffocated it, keeping it from moving even an inch Then it started the absorption.

And just then, three slightly smaller hornets came racing toward my Longtailed defender. Three stings reduced its defenses by six and a half thousand points! Bastards!

I had to block out the keeper spirit’s stormy emotions. If I were to let it run wild, it would be terrorizing my brain with panicked outbursts. And my head was already pounding.

The Ysh had yet to finish absorbing its victim, while its shield was down below ten thousand points. It needed help right away. I was about to summon the Black Armorbug, but at the last minute changed my mind.

A figure suddenly appeared at my side. I gave a nod and the snow ghoul shot forward. He passed through the bodies of the hornets like a red-hot knife through butter. My life supply immediately started filling up. The keeper spirit even hiccupped in surprise.

I was looking on with bated breath. Was this a joke…? Beyond the fact that the ghoul had attacked three opponents at once, he was also in no hurry to disappear like he used to. Quickly whipping around and taking advantage of the hornets’ stunned state, he hopped over to the nearest one and greedily sunk his fangs into its ghostly flesh.

The clacker only lasted a matter of moments. The snow ghoul sucked out virtually all its ghostly lifeforce.

― Attention! Snow Ghoul Spirit has successfully absorbed Spirit of Clacker!

― Transformation stage: 0 (11%)

While I read the notification, stunned at how fast he took down the hornet, the ghoul threw himself on his next victim.

The Ysh, as if sensing it now had competition, also picked up the pace. The system soon reported back on yet another absorption.

― Spirit of Longtailed Ysh

― Transformation stage: 0 (42%)

The final hornet the Ysh and ghoul took down together. It all happened so fast I couldn’t even properly see what happened. In the end, the Ysh’s transformation progress was up to forty-eight percent, while the snow ghoul’s was at twenty-nine. And for the record, neither one was in any rush to disappear. They just kept staring hungrily at the exit. Their ghostly bellies were demanding the feast to continue.

“See,” I came smugly. “And you were all afraid!”

“Don’t get your hopes up just yet,” the spirit muttered. “Things are just getting started. There are too many magic emanations.”

The keeper jinxed it…

A hydroid appeared at the entrance, and not alone. This one had company. The Ysh and ghoul raced each other to greet our new visitors. The snake, in a fit of jealousy, managed to wrap itself around two hydroids at once.

“Hm… Is it just me, or has it gotten bigger?”

“No, you’re right,” the spirit muttered.

It sounded insulted. Oh well. It only had itself to blame. No need to go spoiling the mood. It got what was coming to it. Next time, it would know better. I mean, of course I was not opposed to having a cautious helper, but a cowardly one was a different matter. A coward would be liable to drop everything and run when you need them most. Still, it would have been hard to accuse the keeper spirit of that sin quite yet. It evaded the necromancer then survived here in this world. It was just jumpy. I’d have to retrain it before it was too late.

The Ysh paid the price for its greed straight away. Its victims’ counterattack reduced its defenses by fifteen hundred points. Another three strong blows and my defender would be no more.

While the snake constricted two jellyfish, the snow ghoul quickly took down the remaining hydroids and hungrily absorbed the spirit of some big, huge bug that could only stuff its massive head into our cave.

The giant was clearly stuck, which was to our advantage. Its torso blocked the opening like a huge cork in a wine bottle.

When the giant beetle had been slain, the System sent me a curious, but encouraging message.

― Attention! Snow Ghoul Spirit has successfully absorbed Spirit of Armorpaw!

― Transformation stage: 1 (2%)

― Congratulations! Reaching transformation stage one has increased the power of Snow Ghoul Spirit!

I quickly opened the effect description, and a smug smile appeared on my face.

“Not bad,” the spirit said, intrigued. “His vampirism is now ten percent more effective.”

Before I could respond, the system told me the Ysh’s fight was over. Its victory had come at a high cost. Its shield was down to three thousand points, but it was still twenty-three percent short of transformation stage one.

“I don’t think it’ll survive another attack,” said the spirit.

I again said nothing. And what could I say? The keeper was right. Ugh! My snake needed to pick up the pace!

* * *

It had been several hours since the first hydroid entered our shelter. All that time, my spirits had been fending off a constant stream of predators. And just when we started thinking the flow would swallow us up, it suddenly ran dry. The bad guys stopped coming. And after the spirit ventured out to scout, it gave me the all-clear.

We didn’t put much stock into the theory we’d taken out every last predator in the area. The spirit hypothesized that they had gotten distracted by something more substantial. But whether that was true or not, we really needed the breather.

When it came to our fighters… The keeper spirit’s prediction about the Ysh proved false. After one of our many victories, my Longtailed defender somehow found a way to not only survive but finish out its first transformation stage. And the first thing that did was increase the capacity of its shield by ten thousand points. And right after that, all its figures reset to full, which came as a pleasant surprise.

And that was how the Ysh ended up holding out long enough to reach transformation stage four without dying. The Ghoul though was less fortunate. He managed to get up to stage three but fell to a hydroid’s attack.

Because he didn’t have the least bit of defense, it only took one blow. As an aside, the Black Armorbug I summoned to replace him only made it to stage two. And although it killed enemies in one blow and absorbed them at an incredible rate, it also had zero defense. And so, it also died from just one poke of a hornet’s stinger.

Overall, despite the keeper spirit’s unsettling predictions, the Ysh lasted longest of all and even managed to stay in formation.

I glanced at my spirits’ figures.

— Spirit of Longtailed Ysh

― Transformation stage: 4 (67%)

— Type: Magical spirit

— Rarity: Rare

— Effect:

— Snakeskin

— Description:

— Summons a spirit that surrounds you with a magical shield capable of absorbing 80,000 units of damage.

— Summoning requires 600 mana points.

— Remember! You may only appeal to the power of the Longtailed Ysh 1 time every 5 days!

— Snow Ghoul Spirit

― Transformation stage: 3 (11%)

— Type: Magical spirit

— Rarity: Rare

— Effect:

— Vampirism

— Description:

— Summons a spirit that attacks an enemy one time, reducing their life by 65% and using that to replenish your life supply.

— Summoning requires 500 mana points.

— Remember! You may only appeal to the power of the Snow Ghoul 1 time every 5 days!

— Spirit of Black Armorbug.

― Transformation stage: 2 (39%)

— Type: Magical spirit

— Rarity: Rare

— Effect:

— Attack

— Description:

— Summons a spirit that deals 9000 points damage

— Summoning requires 400 mana points.

— Remember! You may only appeal to the power of the Black Armorbug 1 time every 5 days!

I had one more spirit I had yet to use. The Crusher. Which I could summon to surround me with an opaque magical fog capable of absorbing, disorienting and confusing opponents.

Before coming to this world, I never put much stock into the word “absorption.” I used spirits in battle as a distraction maneuver. But now, all that had changed.

“Did the library have any information about absorption or anything else about these summoning spirits?” I asked the keeper before falling asleep. The Ysh was on guard next to the entrance while the keeper tried to stick close to me even though it was still feeling sorry for itself. So easily offended!

“Very little,” it responded. “And what is there is very contradictory.”

“Tell me,” I said, closing my eyes and folding my hands behind my head.

The spirit fell silent for a bit but, upon seeing that I was not falling for its antics, sighed loudly and started telling me what it knew.

“Magister Ari makes passing reference in his treatise to an orc shaman having tamed a few common spirits.”

“I’ve seen that before,” I nodded. “A bloodthirsty lot. Some can even ride their spirits like horses.”

“Well, Magister Ari does mention one quirk,” the spirit continued, as if it couldn’t hear me.

“Let me guess,” I chuckled. “The shaman’s spirits got more powerful suddenly?”

“That’s right,” the spirit agreed.

“Does the author of the treatise have any explanation for that phenomenon?” I inquired.

“Yes,” the spirit responded. “But it isn’t what you’re expecting.”

“Is that so?” I cracked open my eyes.

“The magister suggests the orc used a potion to power up his spirit.”

“I see,” I exhaled, disappointed. “Anything else?”

“Yes,” the spirit replied.

“Let’s hear it.”

“Senior Prior Naya claims tame spirits can change rank.”

“Oh!” I propped myself up on an elbow. “Now this is getting interesting! I currently have four rare spirits. If that’s true, I could make them epics then, Bug knows, maybe legendaries?”

“Theoretically, yes,” the spirit responded excitedly. Its hurt feelings faded into the background. Seemingly, it had only just now realized the potential this opened up.

“And if they work the same way as artifacts, changing rank implies that the spirits will get new abilities!” I announced, smiling.

“Yes!” my emotions washed over the spirit.

“Does she explain how to rank them up?” I asked.

That question soured the spirit.

“Alas,” it sighed. “The book was missing a few pages. Maybe rodents?”

I rubbed my forehead.

“How could that have happened? The library is one of the most well-defended hunter structures. Maybe… Some jerk just didn’t want others finding out what he knew.”

“That or a spy.”

“Not out of the question.”

I waved a hand.

“Okay. Why waste time guessing? It’s been hundreds of years. Was there anything else there worthy of our attention?”

“Tangentially,” the spirit replied. “A few sources say that spirits belonging to those affiliated with Darkness are especially powerful.”

I nodded.

“Now I see why. The mark makes it so they can travel between fallen worlds and let their spirits out to hunt.”

As a matter of fact, coming here without spirits would have been dangerous. Regular spells had no effect on these predators. During battle, I ran a test, which made the spirit immediately start moralizing.

“You shouldn’t have used those,” it said after I attacked a jellyfish with lightning to no affect, followed by an ice arrow. “Now, even more powerful brutes might come after us.”

“Don’t you start,” I waved it off. “There’s so much magic around here, one more little flicker won’t hurt…”

“Still,” the spirit insisted. “In the future, I’d advise against risking it. Your life is mine, too.”

“I know,” I agreed. “But I had to try. Now I know for sure that only my tame spirits can hold these brutes back.”

* * *

The rest of the night went without incident and the next morning, rested, we got underway. My eyes had adapted so well I could now see an outline of the sun. And naturally, that had an impact on how fast we were moving. But there was also another factor. The spirit kept scouting up ahead and reported back that there wasn’t a single monster around. It was as if they’d all just up and croaked. The spirit ignored my joke that we’d slain them all. Its worry and tension impacted me, as well.

There was an upside to not having to worry about attack ― we decided not to stay another night and kept going to the next shelter. And that forced march brought us much closer to our destination.

We reached the portal just before morning. And when we got near the gateway to my world, we realized where all the monsters had gone. They were all gathered around the portal.

“There are thousands of them!” the spirit whooped in a flurry of emotions, making me wince in pain. Because its whooping was banging around in my head, I didn’t know exactly who I wanted to smack – the creatures crowding around the portal, or the worrywart spirit.

“Get yourself together!”
I added some pressure with my Will. Because we shared Will though, the trick worked by fits and starts. But nevertheless, I was able to reassure the chatterbox somehow. “Now is not the time to lose your head!”

“Yeah, sorry,” the spirit sniveled. “I’m just very scared.”

I partially understood him. I felt beside myself, as well. To see all these predatory spirits in one place, and a few of them were so monstrous they made the hydroid look like a harmless little bug. It was a sight that could put a pit in anyone’s stomach. And considering the fact my keeper spirit had only been “born” a month and a half ago… It hadn’t really had a chance to grow up. Or gain experience. Or learn self-control. Like some freakish child. Overall, I was chalk full of patience.

“I don’t blame you,” I said in a reassuring tone. “Don’t worry. They can’t even see us. They’re all just on a mad dash to the portal. By the way, what’s going on there?”

“I might by wrong,” the spirit said, more calmly. “But I think the portal to your world is about to open.”

“And all these ugly bastards want to be the first to go through it when it does,” I whispered angrily, clenching my fists until my knuckles turned white.

A moment later, I realized the spirit was right, but only partly. The portal had indeed opened, but not far enough to let all the brutes into my world. No. Whoever was in charge of the process had a more interesting idea.

On this side of the portal, there was a gigantic obelisk with dark purple sparkles glimmering on its surface. It stretched high up into the dark clouds, getting lost somewhere in their depths. I wondered whose handiwork it was. I had no doubt it had been constructed by someone. Most likely, this world once also had its primordials, ancients or departed before its “fall.” I’d have plenty more time to think about that and interrogate the spirit later, but now I just couldn’t find the energy. Most likely, the Order’s library would contain a lot of information.

Meanwhile, I noticed some action around the portal. The creatures started stirring and looking around. They started fighting to be closest to the obelisk.

I strained to get a better view. At that precise moment, the portal suddenly lit up with magic light. It cut into my dark-adapted vision like a red-hot knife. Covering my eyes with a hand, I cursed mutedly. Bug glitch you! Ugly bastards!

A slight push to my shoulder made me hold my tongue. The spirit was just about to start lecturing me about keeping quiet. But it caught me off guard…

“Rick!” it whispered aloud, dumbfounded. “Look!”

“How?!” I snarled back, still rubbing my blinded eyes.

“I think people are coming out of the portal!”

I shuddered and stared blindly toward the portal. At first, my eyes weren’t working, but gradually my vision came back. The obelisk lit up with a magic purple glow, and on the backdrop of that light I could indeed make out human silhouettes. However, they quickly faded out, then back in. As if stepping back and forth. From world to world.

When my vision had come all the way back, I realized the figures weren’t blinking at all. The newcomers from my world were being caught by the monsters like minnows in a net, torn to shreds, and instantly devoured.

Chapter 5

“I HAVE SEEN THIS KIND of thing before,” I whispered, my throat parched. “We have to find cover, now.”

I wanted to scream in impotence. But alas, I couldn’t help the unfortunate souls. On top of that, if we didn’t get out of here fast, we’d end up meeting the same fate as them.

“Where could you have possibly seen this before?” the spirit asked quietly. “And why do we have to hide?”

“In the Labyrinth of Fright. During the storming of King Nidas’ castle. Necromancers were feeding prisoners to a portal.”

Then the keeper made a guess:

“They’re luring more powerful creatures!”

“Exactly right,” I nodded, stepping back. “They’re looking for a new portal keeper. If this is what I think it is, the next group sacrificed will be mages.”

“I’m scared to even imagine what might show up here!” the spirit exclaimed, shocked while hurriedly following after me.

But still, we were unable to find surefire cover before it was too late. It was like the people on the other side could hear us. The first mage spilled out of the portal. And the very first thing he did was activate a magic shield. If not for the spirit’s warning, I would have done the same a few days before. But this mage did not have a keeper. And by the looks of things, he didn’t know the first thing about fallen worlds, either.

Already knowing what was about to happen, I covered my eyes. At first, there was a flash of magic light most likely bright enough to be seen on the other side of the world. And that flash was followed by a powerful upwelling of magic that made all the hair on my head stand on end.

“What has he done?!” the spirit squealed.

To say that the magic emanation had stirred the creatures would be a severe understatement. Honestly though, after he activated his shield, all the creatures froze stock-still for several seconds. Upon seeing the fruits of his own ignorance, the mage took it as a good sign. He even started casting another spell. He was clearly planning to slam them all with some splash damage. And for the record, he completed the cast. However, the five-foot wave of fire that rolled down the rows of monsters and was supposed to turn them all to ash didn’t end up dealing a single point of damage. The mage had only made matters worse. He had essentially sent yet another powerful signal to any possible nearby super predators.

I could not see the look on his face when he saw all the creatures unharmed after the powerful fire attack. We were too far from the portal. But the heart-rending squeal of pain the mage issued while being torn to shreds, we could hear perfectly well. And neither his shield nor the fire arrows he kept shooting left and right were the least bit of help. Had they met in battle on the other side of the portal, I wouldn’t have bet a dime on the creatures. But to the mage’s misfortune, this world had a set of laws all its own.

The necromancers on the other side of the portal didn’t keep the creatures waiting, though. Two mages spilled out of the portal at once. And I didn’t doubt for a second that it was necromancers orchestrating the process. Only they seemed to have the ability to push sacrifices into fallen worlds whether they had a dark mark or not.

The newcomers didn’t hold out much longer than their predecessor. They weren’t able to do a single thing before dying. But the trio of mages after them took me by surprise. The group of three was clearly aware of where they were and how to behave. I even threw the spirit’s caution and whining to the wind and walked over closer to the fight for a proper view.

And I found a concealed spot that worked great. Hm… A motley crew. An older orc, an elven maiden, and a human boy. The boy was actually around my age.

As soon as the mages appeared, they got to action and were quite competent. The elf quickly hopped up on the orc’s back and took out a flexible ghostly bow. An opaque set of magic armor appeared on the boy’s body while a pair of curved blades appeared in his hands. Based on the dim glow, they were far from common metal weaponry.

The orc raised his hands over his head and barked something out and, a moment later, a rippling dark green wave rolled toward the creatures. I figured it would meet the same fate as the first mage’s wave of fire, but I was wrong. The old steppe-dweller’s sorcery wiped out the first two rows of attackers in a matter of seconds.

The spirit, by my side all that time, gasped loudly in surprise.

“I’d bet my right hand that orc is a Shaman of the Wastes,” I muttered, continuing to focus on the fight.

The elf and young mage weren’t just standing around, though. Their magic arrows and blades reaped an abundant harvest. Not expecting such fierce pushback, the creatures lessened their onslaught. The shaman took advantage of the monsters’ moment of confusion, spread his arms wide and started muttering something loudly. Before a minute had passed, he opened his eyes and clapped his hands together forcefully.

Right in front of him, cutting the group of mages off from the pack, there appeared a giant creature that looked like a cuttlefish. Before being captured as a spirit, this creature must have been a super predator. Its two-dozen thick prehensile tentacles thinned the attackers’ ranks in an instant.

A smile of relief appeared on the elf’s face, and she lowered her bow. The orc also looked satisfied. They’d held back their foes. Only the young mage was still racing frantically from side to side, taking down the few attackers breaking through the screen.

“Listen, Rick,” the spirit mused. “How about we join forces with them? With a group like that, we’ll definitely stand a better chance of surviving.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” I shook my head. “They’re just getting started. That’s for one. And for two, even if we do try to join up with them, there’s no telling how they might react to me.”

Meanwhile, the giant cuttlefish spirit, obeying the shaman’s command, had switched from defense to attack. The mages followed suit.

“They want to get away from the portal,” the spirit narrated. “That’s the right move.”

I wanted to say I was in complete agreement with their decision, but the inevitable finally happened. Lured by the magic emanations, a super predator had reached the portal.

At first, neither us nor the group of mages could tell it had arrived. Only when the other creatures stopped attacking the group and ran headlong away from the portal did we notice something was up.

The orc raised a hand and his cohort stopped, looking dubiously from side to side.

I also turned my head around in hopes of spotting their foe.

It all happened very fast. The ground beneath the elf’s feet opened up and she plunked down with a loud scream.

Neither the orc nor the young mage was able to help.

Tension constricted my temples.

The orc and young mage turned to run and, unfortunately, came straight our way.

The huge cuttlefish spirit followed sluggishly after its master. And it had the misfortune of being the invisible monster’s next victim.

The ground shot up to reveal a giant set of pincers, which snipped the shaman’s spirit in half in one crisp motion. The loud crunching sound made my ears ring. A shiver ran down my spine.

“Run away!” the spirit squeaked.

“Don’t even think about it!” I replied, quickly getting myself together. “We won’t be able to hide. We can only go forward! The portal is what will save us.”

Quickly hopping to my feet, I ran toward the obelisk in a wide curve around the open area.

I ran into a few monsters who forgot their fear of the super creature and tried to latch into me. The Ysh easily blocked their attacks.

I turned to look at the shaman and mage as I ran. Had I done so a minute later, I would not have seen the orc suddenly pretend to limp, fall behind the boy and, in an act of treachery, unload a spell into his side.

The young mage took a few steps out of inertia, stumbled and fell to the ground. The shaman meanwhile, no longer limping, ran full speed toward a group of gray boulders.

I couldn’t say what made me change direction and race over to help the fallen mage – either the realization that he and I were the same age, or the orc’s malicious snort. Or maybe it was now in my blood to risk my hide to help those in need… Overall, one way or another, within a few moments, I had thrown the unconscious fighter’s body over my shoulder and, thankfully, it was much lighter and smaller than expected.

The shaman turned as he ran. When he saw me, his face stretched out in surprise. I wasn’t going to let the villain get away so easily though. The orc obviously did not appreciate my ravening smile. Then he made an unforgiveable error. Realizing that I wanted to attack, the orc stopped and activated one of his magic shields.

That only made my smile bigger. Idiot! He might as well have just lit a flare at his position as far as the super creature hunting him was concerned. Based on his sour expression, the shaman realized that. In order to worsen his already shaky position, I activated stone spikes beneath his feet. Without Ava’s Bracelet, the level two damage wouldn’t do much against the orc’s shield, but that wasn’t my goal. I was trying to point out the ugly bastard’s location.

And it worked. The orc’s shield coped with the stone spikes easily, but the magic spilled in that location was a lovely sight. I kept smiling, waving a hand at the shaman. In response, a stream of curses and insults came crashing down on me. I even saw a magic glow in the steppe dweller’s hands. He seemingly wanted to get revenge on me using my same tactic. Too late, idiot.

And just then, the ground under the shaman’s feet shook and tore open like a sheet of paper. That time, the super creature used its flexible tentacles. Like a snake, they constricted the orc’s body as he squealed in horror and got dragged beneath the soil. I heard bones cracking and flesh tearing while the orc gnashed his teeth and choked on screams of pain behind me. It was a mixture of sounds I would not be able to forget for some time to come.

The portal was at an arm’s length, but I could already tell I would not be fast enough to leave this “inviting” world. Throwing caution to the wind, I activated magic vision and looked down past my feet. The super monster had been beneath me all that time. It was like it was playing cat and mouse with me, having already filled its belly on the first family of mice.

The creature was a true juggernaut. I could sense the magic energy wafting off it in my bones. A ghastly mixture of arthropod, octopus and cuttlefish, it was most comfortable moving around underground. Honestly though, I didn’t fully understand how it was able to move through the thick soil without causing the slightest disturbance on the surface.

And I jinxed it… The ground in front of me shot up and a giant claw appeared from the rapidly expanding crack. The spirit must have gone hoarse over the last few minutes. Instead of panicked shrieking, I could only hear rasping and hissing. Oh well, I’d have to get used to it eventually. We had a battle with Alrak and his Steel puppet master ahead of us. And they were going to be a bit more dangerous than some ghost shrimp, no matter how giant.

I pumped the breaks suddenly and dashed to the right. Then, a moment later, another crack appeared where I’d just been, and a tentacle shot up out of it. Because I had used magic, the shrimp could see me perfectly, but I also had the advantage of not moving blind.

The Ysh, which had been saving my hide all that time, first started off toward the big, huge claw, but I willed it to stop. And as usual, it obeyed.

“Let it go!” the spirit rasped. “It will distract the creature! Then, we will have time to run away!”

“Not yet!” I barked out. “I need to try something.”

The spirit groaned out woefully but did not get in my way. In fact, even it seemed curious about my plan.

Even with the mage’s body on my shoulders, I was moving faster than the super creature. The ground around the portal looked like a big slice of Fradian cheese, famed around the world for its many holes.

Despite my speed, I could sense that I was starting to get tired. The monster meanwhile for some reason was taking its sweet time coming up to the surface, preferring instead to attack from underground. But to execute my plan, I needed it up here.

After the tentacle made another hard-to-dodge attack, I started giving serious consideration to the spirit’s advice to sacrifice the Ysh as a distraction. And right then, the ground in the middle of the wasteland swelled like a giant boil and the huge shrimp surfaced, clearly outraged by my enthusiasm.

“Well, finally,” I smiled, panting. “We’ve been waiting. You really are an ugly thing…”

As an aside, I was wrong to call it a shrimp. It looked more like a squid with three dozen tentacles growing out of its head and three pairs of claws on its sides.

“So, why didn’t you want to come up here?” I snorted.

The creature was moving much slower. Its huge body, lumbering along awkwardly using its claws as giant oars, came slithering my way.

“What now?” the spirit panicked softly. “Now seems like a good time to enact your plan.”

“Not yet,” I shot out. “We need it farther from its den.”

One minute… Two… You sure are a clumsy thing.

Once far enough from its den, the squid noticed that I was now standing in one place. It tried to rush and catch me with its tentacles. I’ll be honest. It was hard not to move. And although I realized the monster was still quite far away, the sight of it turned the blood to ice in my veins.

“Now!” I announced when the monster’s burrow was far behind us.

― You have summoned the spirit of the Crusher!

My heart aflutter, I watched the squid’s whitish body disappear into the dark fog. At first nothing happened. The super monster’s huge appendages kept poking out of the inky darkness. It kept doggedly trying to come my way. I had already started thinking my plan was a dud, but then the creature’s claws and tentacles started flailing more intensely. I meanwhile noticed that burn-like spots had started appearing on the squid’s skin. Then I heard it give a plaintive whistle.

“It’s dying!” the spirit exclaimed excitedly, having watched my exertion all that time.

The fog meanwhile spread and enshrouded the wasteland opposite the portal with its “body.” I didn’t see the squid or its appendages ever again. And a few minutes later, I saw a system notification confirming that I would not.

― Attention! Spirit of Crusher has successfully absorbed Spirit of Octopus!

― Spirit of Crusher

― Transformation stage: 3 (17%)

“Well, what do you say to that?” I asked the spirit, puffing out my chest triumphantly.

“Striking!” it exclaimed. “The fog swallowed it up in less than two minutes! But that’s! But that’s!”

Stroking my chin thoughtfully, I watched the other creatures return to the portal after the Octopus’ death. Like moths to a flame, they rushed into the magic fog ― so bright, so tasty.

When the first monsters started disappearing in the depths of the darkness, system notifications about successful absorptions started piling in. While I tried to focus on reading the first ones, the system reported that the crusher had reached transformation stage four.

“I say we stay here a little while,” the spirit shot out unexpectedly.

I laughed sincerely for the first time in days.

“Who are you?!” a faint woman’s voice behind me made me sharply turn around and draw my blades.

The kid I rescued must have come to his senses. Before summoning the spirit, I set his body on the ground so it wouldn’t get in the way.

Hm… Based on the voice, I realized it wasn’t a boy. I couldn’t see her face due to the helmet. But the voice sounded dimly familiar.

My sudden movements made her jump up off the ground and gasp as she clutched at her injured side.

“Don’t worry,” I said calmly. “Trust me, I didn’t lug you all this way just to kill you.”

“Who are you?” the girl squeezed out through clenched teeth. “I can’t see your face.”

“Oh yeah,” I snorted and threw back the marauder hood. “How about now?”

I asked with a sidelong smile.

“You?!!!” she exclaimed and took a step back.

“I don’t get it.” My brows crept up. “Do I know you?”

Instead of responding, she took off her helmet and burned into me with a hateful look

“Ah, so that’s who you are…” I said, scratching the back of my head in astonishment.

Her again. The air mage from the Labyrinth of Fright whose daddy I just about took down in a duel in Stenborg.

“I guess the gods just won’t give us a break,” I snorted. “Litzia Silras, if I’m not mistaken? Funny seeing you here, isn’t it?”

Chapter 6

LITZIA WAS IN NO RUSH to thank me for saving her life. In fact, she was sizing me up with a hateful look while brandishing a pair of air blades which had appeared out of nowhere a second before. That must have been how she was pulverizing all those creatures. I wouldn’t mind a weapon like that in my arsenal. But actually, what was I talking about? I had more dangerous toys than that. I just had to get them unblocked.

I took a grim look at her as she prepared to attack and said with a cold menacing air:

“I strongly suggest you reconsider.”

I backed up every word with a bit of Will. Beyond that, the Crusher spirit, which had been hungrily absorbing creatures, turned away from its meal for a moment and stretched some of its foggy tentacles our way. I felt the predatory shadow gathering behind me, preparing to swallow up all those who would dare take a bite out of my health bar.

Litzia had come up another three levels since our last encounter. Now she was at thirty-seven. I suspected her characteristics had also improved. And that meant if her and I were to duel right now, with my current parameters, I had every chance of losing. My flimsy little shields weren’t likely to last long against her attacks. And I now have basically no way to fight back. All my usable spells are at level two. The spirits are my only saving grace.

But she doesn’t know that. She remembers how handily I whipped her daddy, so I was most of all aiming to scare her. And it worked.

The Will pressure plus the dark fog effortlessly eating through the local creatures worked as intended. Fear flickered past in the mage’s ice-tinted gray eyes. And although it wasn’t for long, it was long enough. She slowly lowered her air blades and threw out angrily:

“Why did you save me?”

“I didn’t know who you were when I saved you.”

“What if you did?” she asked acridly.

“Would my response really change anything?”

“No,” Litzia responded honestly, adding with hate in her voice: “You killed my teacher in the Labyrinth.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“The Labyrinth of Fright is no place for the weak.”

“He was a great warrior!” she exclaimed ardently. “You don’t even deserve the honor of such a noble hand striking you down!”

“You and I have different ideas of nobility,” I snorted. “A bunch of self-appointed so-called nobles decided to have some fun at the expense of an apparently harmless commoner. But they underestimated that commoner and paid for it with their lives. Is that about it?”

I saw the jawbones clench on her gaunt face. She was about to start spouting idiocy again, but I didn’t let her.

“I don’t know what it is your noble daddy and great warrior teacher taught you and, to tell the truth, I don’t care. But I can tell you one thing for sure. The only reason you’re still alive is because the Goddess Fortuna just keeps smiling on you, no matter how little sense that makes to me. As a matter of fact, I’d say your whole family has good luck. It’s a miracle you didn’t die in the Labyrinth. Few have ever survived an attack by my harn. And the only thing that kept me from killing your daddy was the timely intervention of the queen of the gnomes. And here again… If I were in your place right now, I’d watch my tongue. My patience has its limits.”

I was amping up the Will pressure with every sentence. And I let out the last few words like driving in a nail. The dark fog behind me meanwhile, sensing my annoyance, started gathering. Over the course of our talk, it had not only been able to swallow up the creatures around the portal, but also slowly come over to my opponent.

Litzia was clearly overcome. Her lips had gone pale. A look of fear was frozen in her eyes.

“What do you want?” she finally spat out.

“Information. I want you to answer my questions.”

“What’s in it for me?” Litzia asked me straight. “After all, you’re going to kill me no matter what, now.”

She’d started talking. That was a good sign. It meant she was not yet preparing to run on a suicidal attack.

“I’m not the kind of person to kill for no reason.”

“You do realize that, if you let me go, you’d be releasing a mortal enemy, right?” she asked, squinting.

I gave a wry smile.

“You have no idea how hard it is to earn my friendship. But sometimes, even sworn enemies agree to temporary cease-fires.”

My words gave her pause.

“What could make me want to agree to a cease-fire with the man who killed my instructor?” she squeezed out through her teeth, glancing down at the black fog starting to swirl around her feet.

“Well, for starters, the fact we share a common enemy,” I said.

The way Litzia shuddered told me I’d hit my mark.

“I suspect you didn’t come here of your own free will,” I continued with my wry smile, and asked: “Because you were being used as bait. Just think! You, the daughter of a magister of the great Order of Mages fed to monsters like a mouse, and all to lure a keeper spirit to the portal! I wonder what your noble father would think about that.”

“My father is no longer with us,” Litzia said unexpectedly quietly. “They killed him. Along with the rest of my family.”

“Nevertheless,” I said in surprise. “I knew Magister Sato was feeding mages to the dark portals, but they were small potatoes. But your father… I mean, he’s a magister.”

I wanted to say he was a magister but decided not to play on her nerves any more than I had to. The conversation was already drawing on a bit too long, and I had yet to hear anything interesting.

My words seemed to have caught her interest. She had really tensed up. This was clearly the first time she was hearing about Egbert’s right-hand-man’s wrongdoings.

“Sato…” she whispered thoughtfully. “Okay, that explains a lot…”

“He the one that pushed you in here?” I asked.

“No,” she shook her head. “It was Alrak’s henchmen.”

I winced when I heard her mention the head necromancer. I couldn’t hide my feelings from Litzia.

“What else were you expecting when you issued a challenge to the Steel King?” she asked with angry mockery.

I shrugged my shoulders and asked:

“What about your father? After all, it seems he also issued a challenge to Egbert? Saw that Darkness might swallow up our world and decided to make a stand in defense of light? Or am I wrong?”

Litzia’s brows shot upward. Her lips spread into a mocking smirk. I could clearly read a question on her face: “What are you talking about, stupid? My daddy, fighting against Darkness? Pf, don’t make me laugh!”

Taking advantage of her eloquent silence, I continued, laughing:

“You know, I think I can already tell what happened. Your late daddy was no warrior of Light. I’ll take it a step further. I’m certain he was just fine with the way things turned out. He didn’t care about the hordes of necromorphs frolicking through the Wastes or on the Dark Continent, much less the necromancers’ sacrifices or the Steel King’s growing power. In fact, he actually stood to gain from all of that, just like his magister buddies.”

The derisive smirk slowly crept off her face.

“You asked me what I was expecting after challenging the Steel King?!” I barked. “Well, here’s my answer ― to beat him! And as long as I’m alive, beating him is the only thing I’ll hope for!”

I fell silent for an instant. But then continued:

“As for your father… I think everything here is pretty simple and perfectly mundane. He thought he could stand up against Shitang.”

Litzia shuddered.

“Yeah, yeah,” I chuckled, seeing how tense she became. “You didn’t think I knew about the shakeup in the Order of Mages? Your father and his magister buddies wanted to take control of the Order for themselves. But seeing how you’re here, Shitang must have come out on top.”

I knew about events in the Order from three sources. Gallia told me something on the day of the duel. But it was very minor and tangential. As far as I could tell, the queen of the gnomes wasn’t planning to tell me anything but felt guilty for stopping the duel. After all, it meant I lost out on loot that was rightfully mine. Maybe even an iridescent tablet.

The gnome queen understood that perfectly. But she also was in no hurry to reveal the secrets of all her connections with the Order of Mages. She got around it with a simple explanation that she didn’t want to spoil her relationship with a potential ally.

At the time, I nodded, agreeing and pretending to be in full support of the queen’s endeavors, especially seeing how her words rang true. She really was speaking the truth. But I could also tell she was leaving things out.

My second source then was Madi Belvokrut. Honestly, he didn’t even suspect that he had confirmed my guesses through our talks. It happened a few days after the duel, when my personal attorney was sharing news from Fradia. Ansel Silras, Litzia’s father had come up. Madi pointed out a strange coincidence. The thing was that, upon returning from Stenborg, my opponent in the duel immediately made a large deposit in a Fradian bank where Madi had informants like any self-respecting businessman. But the coincidences didn’t end there. Several magisters and priors from the Order of Mages, along with Ansel Silras’ close friends, had also made large transfers around the same time. Purchasing an expensive building in the upper circle of Ironville, large bank investments, acquiring lots of tablets and artifacts.

All my guesses and theories were confirmed by Midori. She told me that many senior magisters from the Order of Mages council were unhappy with Shitang, as were their flunkies. Overall, it wasn’t hard to guess that the list of esteemed mages provided by Madi and Midori matched up perfectly.

As for the gold the magisters suddenly came into, it now made perfect sense. The trail led back to the gnomish kingdom. Honestly though, first I thought some rich clan from the Undermountain Kingdom was muddying the waters, but then I realized Gallia herself was supplying the mages with cash. It was her way of trying to sow discord in the ranks of the Steel King’s biggest ally. But as I had just realized, Ansel was now gone, meaning Shitang had suppressed the discontent in the Order. And the necromancers had something to do with it.

Litzia silently bored into me with an angry look.

“You don’t have to say anything. I can see that I’m right. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn your father was betrayed by one of his allies.”

“Ting,” Litzia couldn’t hold back. “Curse that traitor!”

“Hm…” I frowned. “Master Ting… Sounds familiar… He a redhead?”

She nodded in surprise.

“I’ve met him before,” I smiled. “Sounds like he hasn’t changed one bit. Hehe! Still backstabbing friends and allies. How’d he pull it off this time?”

The last time, he’d opened a portal for Master Chi’s executioners. And the batty old mage trusted him. I didn’t say that out loud, though.

Based on the way Litzia was boring into me with her gaze, she had a lot of questions, but still held back and responded:

“Ting warned Shitang about the attempt on his life.”

“I doubt Ting was the only one,” I chuckled. “Don’t forget that you made an attempt on the life of the Steel King’s daughter’s future father-in-law.”

And then came my turn to be surprised.

“Egbert’s daughter’s engagement to Shitang’s son got called off,” Litzia said. “The Steel King doesn’t care who will head the Order of Mages. All that matters to him is that whoever comes out on top is loyal to him.”

“Still,” I snorted. “Why break the engagement?”

Litzia shrugged her shoulders.

“I think Egbert no longer sees a point in giving up his daughter to secure an alliance with the Order. Shitang hasn’t been powerful enough to serve as an ally for a long time. Now, he’s just a servant. Just like all the other members of the Order of Mages. Egbert just isn’t going to give up his daughter to the son of a man at his service, especially someone younger.”

I cringed and breathed a heavy sigh. There was only one way things could have turned out like this.

“So, he does have the crown,” I whispered in anger.

But Litzia must not have heard me.

“You mentioned a ceasefire,” she said firmly. “Is Shitang your enemy?”

After saying that, she stared at me tensely. I started getting the impression she was awaiting my response like the verdict of a trial.

“As long as he serves the Steel King, he will be,” I responded.

She breathed a sigh of relief and wanted to keep going, but I interrupted her:

“But I have every reason to believe Shitang is a mere hostage He only serves Egbert because he fears for his own life. Or the lives of those close to him. I do not believe Shitang or any other magisters of the Order much like how powerful the Steel King is getting.”

“What difference would that make?!” Litzia exclaimed hotly, squeezing her hands until her knuckles turned white. “He’s a slave to the Steel King. That makes him an enemy!”

“Exactly,” I said quietly. “He’s a slave. And that means he is not acting in accordance with his own free will.”

“He was always an enemy of your Order!”

“Yeah, so what?” I asked in surprise. “Which of us will be on the top of his hitlist? Me, or the Steel King?”

“Both of you!”

“What if I suggest a ceasefire with Shitang to take down Egbert?”

“Wha-at?!!!”

The mage’s faces twisted into an angry frown.

“You trying to mock me?!”

“What makes you say that?” I asked calmly. “Where’d you see mockery?”

“You just offered me a ceasefire against Shitang but a minute later said you were willing to ally with him!”

“That’s right,” I nodded. “There’s one little detail you’re missing. I am for an alliance with Shitang, but not to go against you and your friends. I understand after all, that you are not the only person in your position. Shitang can’t have gotten rid of all the rebels. I’m one hundred percent certain of that.”

She started to settle down. The look in her eyes changed. I thought I saw a flicker of hope in them. Seemingly, she hadn’t considered the possibility that some friends or supporters of her father’s might have still been alive. I couldn’t blame her, though. It was a desperate position. Her whole family dead. Being pushed into a fallen world. Basically, the only thing she could think about was how to survive on her own.

“Don’t get me wrong,” I continued, seeing her pensive look. “After all, I didn’t say I was suddenly overcome with brotherly love for Shitang. He is my enemy just as much as yours. But as long as he’s got the Steel King and his necromancers behind him, we cannot defeat him.”

“You want to use Shitang to stand up against Egbert?”

I chuckled.

“It’d be dumb on my part to think Shitang would ever go for that. The most I could hope for would be for the Order of Mages not to come to Egbert’s aid at a pivotal moment.”

“Then what’s the point of me agreeing to a ceasefire with you?”

“Well, that’s obvious. The Steel King will fall, weakening Shitang and his supporters. That will make it easier for you and your cohort to take him down. But you have to keep your eyes on the prize. As long as Egbert and the necromancers are alive, you will not be able to challenge Shitang.”

With a frown and slight derision in her voice, she came:

“That all makes sense, except one part. What will you be doing?”

Staring her firmly in the eyes, I said harshly:

“I will be killing the Steel King and eradicating his necromancers.”

The cold look in my eyes made Litzia shrink, but she didn’t look away. We spent a short while staring into one another’s eyes. Finally, having slowed down a bit, Litzia made up her mind:

“I agree to the ceasefire. It will only be valid as long as Shitang is alive.”

“Fine by me,” I answered after a moment’s consideration.

Naturally, we did not shake hands or exchange oaths.

“You’re not really going to trust her, are you?” the spirit spoke up in my head for the first time in a while.

“I of course had my suspicions that you do not hold me in high esteem,” I responded with a smirk. “But don’t take me for a complete moron. Just give her a chance and you’ll have one of her blades in your back before you know it.
Either one of us could break the ceasefire at any time and face no consequence. So, keep a close eye on her.”

It was as if Litzia could hear my thoughts. She sat down on a rock and, bending, was patting down her injured side.

“Actually, before getting pushed into the portal, all of us also made a temporary ceasefire.”

“If you want to know my opinion,” I replied. “I think the orc made a mistake. And not by stabbing you in the back. The two of you together would have stood a better chance of surviving in this world. By the way, what do you know about your companions? And what is going on over there?”

Litzia showily took a break from tending to her injury. I chuckled to myself. She doesn’t want to show that she’s watching my every move even though I keep catching fleeting glances.

Tilting her head to one side, she asked:

“You never said what you’re doing here.”

“And you think I’m going to tell you now?” I chuckled.

Much to my surprise, Litzia smiled back for the first time. It looked awkward and even a bit mean-spirited, but still it was a smile.

“Good point. I just wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Ah, expecting to see me somewhere else?” I asked off-handedly.

Honestly though, at that moment, I had to struggle to keep my composure.

“Honestly, no. A lot of people think you’re dead. It’s been almost five months since Foreston fell and no one’s seen hide nor hair of you.”

“See, and you were worried!” the spirit came with relief. “Only five months!”

Chapter 7

THE WIND WAS ALREADY STARTING to die down, but the less than summery cold rain was pouring down just as hard as the last few days. The cold raindrops meanwhile, kept finding cracks in the old roof and seeping into my temporary shelter.

Honestly though, the old fishing hut I found yesterday on the coast of the Dead Ocean was hard to call a shelter. It was more like a temporary safe haven where I could start a fire and cook the fish I’d caught. If not for the downpour, I’d have happily been out in the fresh air.

Wrapping my Marauder cloak tight, I sat contemplatively over a half-collapsed fireplace, staring at the two big fish roasting slowly over the coals. Grease would sometimes drip down onto the red-hot coalbed, hiss angrily and fill the hut with an aromatic briny aroma.

It had been five days since I came back to my world where, despite it being midsummer, I found the weather autumnal. After hammering out the ceasefire with Litzia, she used the necromancer corridor to go back to our world.

I laughed unwittingly thinking back on her tense face. It was as if she couldn’t believe I was letting her go until the very end. The spirit, meanwhile, was insistent that I take her down while I had the chance. And to a certain extent, it was right. She was a middling ally and was liable to stab me in the back at any time. She said I had killed her teacher, but I was reminded of something her father said in Stenborg before our duel. He said Litzia had lost her fiancé. Such things are not forgiven. The air mage would definitely strike. She would lie in wait until her very best and my very worst moment, then she would strike. So, I had to keep my ears perked up and, if possible, grow eyes in the back of my head.

I won’t lie; I did get feel like ordering the Crusher spirit to attack her a few times, but I repeatedly pushed those thoughts out of my head. Afterwards, I gave it some thought and concluded that the bloodthirsty urges had not come from my heart. It was as if some external force was pushing me to act, sneakily forcing my Will. And I very quickly realized who stood to benefit from such provocations. My dark patron goddess was far from asleep at the wheel.

She does not know me very well yet. If she knew me better, she’d never have tried such a crude approach. She prefers to view me as her slave, and that’s where her problem lies.

And meanwhile, my nonbinding verbal promise was not the only reason I let Litzia go. I also had a role for her to play.

At first, I was hoping that after crossing back to our world, she would make some noise on the other side of the portal and distract the necromancers somewhat. Compared to Alrak, his servants were much weaker, but to me their levels would be hidden. I was not yet ready to make a move against foes like that.

And second, I was positive that Litzia and the other living rebels would start seeking revenge on Shitang for killing their families. It was no longer just a power struggle. Revenge can be a blunt instrument.

Jumping ahead a bit, I should note that my guesses were proven one hundred percent correct. When I came out of the portal, there was nobody waiting to greet me, but it was clear a pitched battle had taken place. Litzia had really gone all out.

There was also a risk they had taken control of her mind again like before the sacrifice, which was undone after she crossed the portal into the other world. But based on the number of shredded necromorph and wraith corpses around the portal, the air mage had gotten away.

I didn’t offer to put an Arbiter block on her. She never would have agreed anyway. And showing our foes such a useful skill would have been a bad idea. To be frank, I didn’t care about Litzia’s future. Here’s basically what I thought: if she broke through the necromancer blockade, then great. But if not, it wasn’t meant to be. If she could bring together all the rebels and start making Shitang’s life harder, all the better. If she couldn’t and died, one less enemy for me to deal with.

How she was planning to get back to the continent she did not say. There was most likely a way. A portal scroll or some kind of familial travel amulet her captors were unable to confiscate. Sato had gotten away that time in the Wastes somehow.

I still had yet to take care of that problem. After all, the Hunter portals were now closed to me. Foreston was now also not so easy to reach. Now, the former capital of the Order of Monster Hunters and surrounding area was one big anomaly. In Litzia’s words, Black Annis had taken over. May the abyss swallow up that horrid brute!

Litzia didn’t know much about what had happened in the several months I was gone, only what her father told her and rumors from the capital.

Everyone had celebrated the first victory of the allied armies over the gnomes. Everyone was happy that his Majesty Egbert the Seventh, AKA “the Steel King,” had strongarmed the covetous pipsqueaks. And not only Fradians. People from other kingdoms were also celebrating. Litzia said that it was the first time she’d seen everyone so united.

On the squares and narrow alleyways, in the homes of rich and poor alike, everyone was discussing their approval of the Steel King. And their outrage at the gnomish betrayal. Just think! Those arrogant gnomes dared to heap condemnation on their wise overlords. They even declared war on Fradia. Fools! And now the smug bastards were paying the price! Stenborg, or rather the upper city, had already been taken. The arrogant queen meanwhile had been driven underground with the last remnants of her troops.

Naturally, all the uproar was being stoked by specially hired criers and provocateurs with high charisma and persuasion figures.

Overall, Ironville was in a festive mood. Everyone was certain that this would be a short war and was going to end in victory any day now. Their alliance would squash the gnomes, and the warriors would return home triumphant. Everyone lived in anticipation of the yet unannounced festivities to honor the returning victors.

And although I sat stone-faced for the duration of Litzia’s story, at that point, I allowed myself to chuckle. The naive fools think it’ll be so easy to smoke the gnomes out of their burrows. Very soon, the festive mood will give way to grief when news of the first combat deaths starts coming in. Gallia was very well prepared for the siege. Essentially, things had just begun for our allies. Subterranean environments were the gnomes’ element. The attackers would get their bloodbaths. Gallia had intentionally surrendered the upper city to lure her opponents underground. The fall of Foreston only accelerated her plans.

In the capital, there was no mention of necromancers taking part in the war. And if any big talker let that slip ― his majesty’s secret chancery would start looking into them.

All signs pointed to Egbert the Seventh having decided to do exactly what his great predecessor had done before him. People would hear about the necromancers, but only after the story had been twisted to put the ruler of Fradia in the best light. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear the gnomes and Order of Hunters declared in league with Darkness soon. Then, the Steel King would again ride in triumphant on his white horse. And that would put him on the imperial throne.

There was just one part of the story I could not understand. What did Egbert stand to gain from all this trouble? Why all the dramatics? After all, he could have secured the imperial crown using his necromancer backers ages ago. In fact, he could have taken over the entire world!

For the record, I had asked Litzia that question, but her response was not satisfactory. She thought Darkness was all just a tool to Egbert the Seventh. And that it was important for him to live in a world without Darkness just like it was to his ancestor. And if he let the necromancers run wild, there would be no one left to rule over except necromorphs and wraiths. Overall, it was a decent theory. There must have been something bigger hidden behind all this theater.

Litzia knew nothing about what was happening in the Wastes. But based on the fact that an orc shaman had been sacrificed alongside her, they were not being too precious with the steppe dwellers, either. They’d already played their role.

The only thing the air mage knew about the elves was that their internecine feud in the forest kingdom had taken a few twists and turns. And that the king of the elves had requested aid from the Order of Mages to suppress the uprising. But Shitang was taking his sweet time, even though he really wanted to capitalize on the situation. And of course! To do a favor for the King of the Forest himself! But the Supreme Magister of the Order of Mages of course was not bold enough to do anything without Egbert’s approval.

The Steel King meanwhile, had made his own contribution. He had sent five thousand lizardfolk to aid the ruler of the forest. That was meant as an insult to both Shitang and the king of the elves. It was a way of letting them both know not to talk behind his back.

Everyone knows the lizardfolk and the elves have unsettled scores. They would suppress the rebellion with particular harshness. Yes, they would be helping the king of the forest, but they would also be cutting down as many rebels as they could in the process. It wasn’t exactly ideal. Does it even need mentioning that the king of the forest’s popularity had fallen into subzero territory among his own subjects? Sure, rebellions have to be suppressed, but not at such a cost. And to top it all off, the rebels had a Heart of the Forest on their side. Basically, the Steel King had made the elven ruler completely dependent on him. Hopefully, Tananth would manage to hold out. Still, based on the fact necromancers were sacrificing elven mages to a portal on the Dark Continent, the rebels must not have been doing great.

The elven woman sent to the fallen world with Litzia was one of those rebels. Too bad she died. But alas, I was powerless to help. Had I known in advance just how powerful the Crusher spirit would be the elf woman would have been alive right now.

And all those thoughts just about made me burn my dinner. Finding my footing, I hurried to take the fish off the fire. I set it on a rickety old stool. It was the only piece of furniture in the hut that hadn’t collapsed, so I was using it as a table. I started carefully so I wouldn’t burn myself swallowing the greasy strips of white flesh.

After eating the first few pieces, I winced and smiled happily. Nice! A measured saltiness, but this time I did not skimp on spices. After many years of a bland diet, I had started experimenting with flavor because my 50 points of Culinary had made it possible to eat just about any dish. I always kept a couple bags of spices in my backpack for situations like this.

Eating a decent meal and drinking some water stabilized my vital signs quite quickly. Now my regeneration, despite the severe handicap, had enough raw material to stop raiding my inner reserves. I couldn’t say I’d gained weight over the last few days, but the weakness and dizziness that had been plaguing me in the fallen world went away.

Despite my mental state, and unbearable desire to leave the fallen world, I decided to stay there a little while longer. I couldn’t let myself leave without completing transformations for the Crusher and Ysh. I might have stayed even longer to level the still cooling-down Armorbug and Snow Ghoul spirits, but the never-ending supply of creatures eventually started pressing in on us.

But even still, it worked out better than I could have expected. The keeper and I had learned how to increase spirits’ ranks. It happened at the tenth transformation stage. After the Crusher spirit absorbed its third super-creature, it ranked up to Epic. And jumping ahead a bit, at transformation fifteen, it hit Legendary.

— Spirit of Crusher

— Type: Magical spirit

— Rarity: Legendary

— Effect:

— Camouflage

― Absorber

— Description:

— Summons a spirit that surrounds you with an opaque magical fog that disorients and confuses opponents.

― Opponents caught in the magic fog will gradually be absorbed by the spirit.

— Summoning requires 6000 mana points.

— Remember! You may only appeal to the power of the Crusher 1 time every 2 days!

Before being eaten by the super creature, the Ysh had already gotten up to Epic rank, too.

— Spirit of Longtailed Ysh

― Transformation stage: 12 (36%)

— Type: Magical spirit

— Rarity: Epic

— Effect:

— Snakeskin

― Nurturing

— Description:

— Summons a spirit that surrounds you with a magical shield capable of absorbing 210,000 units of damage.

― Increases mana supply capacity by 20%

— Summoning requires 3000 mana points.

— Remember! You may only appeal to the power of the Longtailed Ysh 1 time every 3 days!

After ranking up, my spirits had become dramatically more useful. And although the summoning cost also jumped up, it was worth it. And most importantly, I could now summon them more often.

I had just one regret ― that I hadn’t managed to level up my other spirits the same way.

When faced with enough powerful monsters, even its legendary status wasn’t enough to stop the Crusher spirit from starting to cede position. It simply couldn’t absorb that many foes. And they meanwhile kept tearing juicy pieces of flesh off its sides like a little school of minnows gnawing at a piece of bread, very quickly halving the size of its “body.”

I didn’t sit around and wait for the creatures to finish with the Crusher and come racing at me, though. Mentally appealing to the goddess Fortuna, I held my breath and stepped into the portal. Either thanks to my mark or the “necromancer corridor” Litzia mentioned, or maybe simply because I was returning to my homeworld, the portal let me through.

My homeworld greeted me with cold, pouring rain and wind that stung to the quick. I didn’t hang around by the portal though. After quickly determining the optimal direction to travel, I started running. And five days later, while avoiding a nearby pack of scavenging necromorphs, I reached the ocean.

What made me choose that direction? I had a few reasons. First, I was not allied with either Forest or Darkness. And second, my instincts told me to go that way. Toward my pets. Away from the necromancers and the Heart of the Forest.

Every time I activated a summoning amulet, my sixth sense told me where to go next. And the closer I came to the ocean, the more distinctly I could sense Gorgie and the whipsnakes.

Today, I had reached a small bay, but was unable to find any trace of my pets. The spirit headed out to scout while I got started on dinner with my fresh catch.

After quickly dispatching the first fish, I wanted to get started on the second, but the spirit came back from scouting just then.

“Someone’s after us,” it said. “They’ll be here tomorrow morning.”

Carefully removing the slightly singed scales, I shrugged my shoulders in silence. It was not the first group to try and chase us in the last five days. Once, we even had to fight. Thankfully, the necromorphs were pretty slow. They must have strayed too far from their puppet masters.

As if having read my thoughts, the spirit reported:

“They aren’t normal necromorphs, they’re wraiths. More than ten.”

That spoiled my appetite. Wraiths are serious business. I should keep my distance.

Quickly wrapping the uncooked fish in a piece of canvas, I stood up and stomped out the coals.

“Let’s go,” I threw out and dove into the wall of rain.

We were not able to escape. The creatures caught up to us by the end of the next day. There was no point running further and wasting energy. They’d have caught us eventually. This way, I got to select the battleground. And I chose a sheer-faced rocky isthmus high above the raging sea.

There were a lot of little holes and rough patches on the rock I could use in fending off the creatures. Plus, I had a few dark Blot traps set out in different directions. That was the spirit’s idea. It had used the remaining leftover sparks to transform the spheres from the arsenal.

During our last fight with necromorphs, which happened two days before, the System hit me with an unpleasant surprise. As it turned out, because I was no longer a Monster Hunter, I was not able to use the standard orbs. But it wasn’t all bad news. My fourth supply, the Dark Hunter Fury bar, activated after killing the first creature. It had a capacity of one thousand points. After defeating the four level-twenty necromorphs, it filled up by two percent. I didn’t know how much those twenty points could power up my spells, but it was better than nothing.

The wraiths attacked just after sunset. Thanks to my night and magical vision, I could see their movements perfectly well. The spirit was slightly mistaken. There were more than ten. Sixteen of them. Levels ranging from eighty to ninety. They gracefully scaled the rock face, encircling me.

I didn’t panic though. I was confident in my chosen position. At the very least, I had the ocean behind me for escape. I could jump down and swim over to another boulder fifty yards from shore at any time. But I was not going to cut and run so soon, especially if it meant losing out on valuable loot. Beyond that, I needed to know what I was capable of against such powerful opponents.

“Ready?” I asked the spirit while keeping an eye on the quickest of the wraiths out in front.

“Yes,” the spirit’s voice was shaky but, to my delight, I sensed no fear. Just anticipation.

“Remember, stay on topic,” I warned and summoned the Ysh spirit, followed by the Crusher.

Chapter 8

I DISTANTLY CONSIDERED the fact that I had only just noticed a certain flavor missing from my tongue. When killing the necromorphs a few days ago, I didn’t even pay it any mind. On the one hand though, it made me happy. That flavor of bitter rot was, to put it lightly, not exactly a treat. I recalled that it even made several foxfolk get nauseous at first. But on the other hand, I had lost a very handy perk that had saved my life many times.

Despite the dark mark, the wraiths did not treat me as a friend. On the contrary, the necromancer-made abominations reacted to me even more aggressively than when I was a hunter. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out my dark patron goddess was someone the necromancers hated more than even lightsiders. The goddess that had taken an interest in me was clearly relatively high level.

After summoning the Ysh, it wrapped its ghostly body around me as usual. But I was a bit late with the Crusher. The nimblest wraith, easily curving around all my traps, in the end was able to slip away from the dark fog’s embrace, leaving it just fifty paces away.

The edge of the moon peeked out from behind the dark clouds. Bathed in its light, I could make out every single muscle on the rapidly approaching creature’s body. In the dark caverns of its eye sockets, I saw nothing but death.

I readied myself. Another few jumps and the monster would be within optimal spell range. I got lucky. While running over a sharp stone ledge, the monster stepped in a Dark Blot. Honestly though, losing a few percent of its energy didn’t stop it, just slowed it down a bit. That brief delay gave me time to activate ice golem’s breath. I wanted to give it a Fracture and Weakness as well but, alas, given my current odds, I had to save mana.

My tension was at an all-time high. I winced at the ringing pain in my temples. I was constantly swatting away thoughts about how long my shield would hold out when the undead freak got to me.

Messages flickered in front of my eyes suddenly. The system faithfully reported back that the Crusher had already taken down four monsters and that my fury bar had filled up by another ninety points. Unfortunately though, the Crusher was unable to stop a wraith racing my direction.

Carefully watching the monster’s every jump, I finally made up my mind and activated stone spikes. And breathed an immediate sigh of disappointment. There was no way the monster could have guessed where exactly the stone spikes would be sprouting up, but the Goddess Fortuna had simply decided that this time I would not score a hit. At the last moment, the creature pumped the breaks and leapt not forward like I assumed, but a bit to the left. Just slightly. But it was plenty. The spikes shooting up from underground just made glancing wounds to the wraith’s right leg. The system, as if mocking me, didn’t report a single point of damage.

“Four thousand four hundred thirty-nine mana points in the supply,” the spirit spat out like a machine gun. “If you keep missing like that, we’ll be out of mana soon! And then we’ll have to jump into the water! I told you to hit them with Decay of the Abyss right away!”

“Stay on topic!” I shouted through my teeth.

“The optimal move now would be to cast an ice spear at that beast!” the spirit quickly got itself in hand. “That’s three thousand mana!”

“I know,” I answered.

Despite the fact that the stone spikes made a glancing blow without dealing a single point of damage, it had directed the creature slightly to one side and made it lose speed.

In that time, I managed to unload a ram, lightning and a few ice arrows. After that, before it could get its bearings, I cast an ice spear, putting all the fury from my Dark supply into the spell.

With a faint humming sound, the spear pulsated with darkness and tore itself from my right hand, sinking into the creature’s right side.

― Using 110 Dark Hunter Fury points, you have activated an enhanced spell: Spear of Ash!

― You have attacked Wraith (90)!

― Critical hit. You have dealt 56,603 damage!

— You have killed Wraith (90)

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (18,000)

― Gold tablet (10)

— Silver tablet (30)

— Dark Hunter Fury (22.5)

“Well, I’ll be swallowed by the abyss!” the spirit exclaimed cheerily. “You did it! This is… This is… I saw the notifications from when you used the orbs of darkness… But what you just did!”

I winced. The spirit had forgotten my rules and bowled me over with another powerful wave of emotion.

“You know, that level of power is both captivating and frightening,” it said, choking up. It must have been able to sense my mood. “Just imagine how much stronger your spells will be at higher levels! But I’m scared of the price you might have to pay for all that power…”

It trailed off into a whisper.

“Me too…” I replied grimly.

With my blades out and keeping a close eye on the fog, I cautiously approached the body of the creature I’d just killed. The front part of its body, head and paws were fully missing. The darkness-fueled spell had split the wraith in half. But that was not all. The undead creature’s rotten flesh, yellow bones and slimy innards were slowly turning black before disintegrating. A persistent stench of decay and rot struck me in the nose.

I winced and took a step back.

“Well?” I heard a mocking whisper in my head. “You like that? Surely after a demonstration like that, you cannot still be doubting my power! Because that is but a single grain of what I could grant to you!”

Covering my nose with an elbow, I silently returned to my position. I wasn’t feeling like talking to the goddess or whatever she was. But I had to admit something. The result knocked me off my feet! I was still struck! The ability to transform a spell using dark energy gave me a much higher chance of winning. Even orbs of darkness couldn’t provide that much extra power.

Ahem… The goddess had read my emotions correctly. I was also scared at the price the entity might set for its help. I’d bet my hand it would sting.

Waving off the grim thoughts, I got ready to greet my remaining opponents. Somewhere off inside the dark fog are nine creatures still struggling for their pseudo-lives.

“One thousand mana in supply,” the spirit reported, a bit muffled. “Enough for ten ice arrows. One could be powered up with dark fury.”

I could tell that it wanted to say more, and I even knew what, but that time the spirit held back. It had realized I was not going to run.

Finally, a few minutes later, messages started coming in saying the other wraiths had also died. The Crusher, as if apologizing for its mistake with the first wraith, was really going all out. Not a single creature escaped the dark fog. The fog started slowly dispersing. The Crusher spirit, having performed its duty, returned to its own dimension.

* * *

“Total for one battle: two hundred seventy-four thousand esses, one hundred sixty gold and four hundred eighty silver tablets,” the spirit reported. “Under normal circumstances, I’d call that an excellent result, but it’s far too little for our plan.”

While the spirit ran calculations, I sat on a rock with my back leaning against a cave wall, periodically sucking at my water flask. The insane tension of battle was slowly letting me go. As always at such times, it was like a countdown started. I wanted unbearably badly to lie down and close my eyes if only for a short moment.

No… Not now… Shaking my head, I loosened apathy’s tenacious grasp. I splashed a bit of water from the flask on my hand and furiously rubbed it into my hot face.

Ah! Much better!

Hm… The keeper just keeps complaining. When I heard its prognosis at first, I wanted to say that I could have gone and lived a life of luxury on the loot from that battle alone in some quiet little town on the outskirts of Taria. But I was forced to admit that the spirit was absolutely correct.

“At this rate, it’ll be a while before we save up enough tablets,” the spirit continued laying out in an instructive tone. “As a matter of fact, you were a hairsbreadth from dying, but still didn’t end up with a single diamond tablet. Such risks are unjustifiable!”

“I agree,” I replied shortly, taking another sip from the flask. “Got any better ideas?”

“We should find a place with a lot of high-level creatures. Do you know anywhere like that?”

I froze for a second and considered it. This creep must have learned to read my thoughts.

“I know of one such place,” I said out loud. “You know about it, too.”

“And it’s not Foreston where the evil old lady is, right?” the spirit asked with suspicion in its voice. “That’s an anomaly right now, fed by the energy of a Dark Portal. You do understand after all that Black Annis is now much more powerful than before, right? Let me remind you that even in your ultimate form, you were unable to defeat her.”

“She had help,” I objected. “You forgot to mention Alrak.”

“I’m actually glad you bring that up,” the spirit came acridly. “Am I to understand you are planning to conquer back Foreston? What if Alrak is in the anomaly?”

“I have you to check if he’s there or not,” I passed the baton back to the spirit. “But you aren’t likely to find him. The Steel King is storming the gnomish capital. There’s a Heart of the Forest nearby, right under his nose, growing at rapid pace and its keeper has launched a rebellion in the elven forest. Egbert won’t let Alrak sit this one out on the edge of the Dark Continent.”

“But still!” the spirit wouldn’t relent. “She’s a very powerful primordial!”

“Yes,” I agreed. I still got shivers when I thought back on the ghastly old woman. “But we have to take back Foreston one way or another. The anomaly was only just born. If we wait too long, there’ll be no smoking her out later.”

* * *

It had been six days since I took down the pack of wraiths. In that time, I was able to study quite a large chunk of the eastern coast, but I never found any tracks from my pets. Still, every time I activated the summoning amulets, my confidence grew that they were somewhere nearby. I refused to believe they’d have split up, either. My uncanny sixth sense was also telling me otherwise. First of all, they’re family. And second, Gorgie is not foolish enough to try and make it on his own. The three of them together would have more fun and be safer.

I should note that every day I was coming across more and more undead as well. Either it was a reaction to my mark, or the necromancers had redoubled their efforts in creating new necromorphs. But regardless, despite the fact I was on a constant northwest trajectory, the creatures would not leave me alone.

Over the past few days, I had eliminated another two small packs of necromorphs. And then two days before that, a group of wraiths tracked us down. At first there were only three of them, but gradually the pack grew larger.

Initially, I wanted to get rid of our “tail” before the group got too big to handle, but then I got an idea. Which the spirit naturally called suicide. I decided to string them along until the group got bigger, then lead them into a trap.

The plan worked, but only halfway. Quite a large number of would-be human flesh eaters joined up, and very quickly at that. The spirit counted up thirty-eight on one of its periodic recon outings.

The second part of my plan though, which involved finding a good spot for a trap, was barely limping along. Over those two days, I hadn’t come across a single bay or hollow that would work for summoning the Crusher to take down all the undead at once.

Beyond that, every day my pursuers were gaining on me. I was gradually getting tired. I was again subsisting on potions. There was no time to hunt or fish. I slept in short bursts. But I didn’t let that get me down. Quite the opposite. In fact, I started getting a strange feeling I’d never felt before – thrill of the hunt. Of course, I’d had my moments of euphoria during battles or hunts… But in comparison with what I was experiencing now… No way… This was something primeval, even animal. I was nearly shaking with impatience. I was eager to be done with the pitiful half-living necromancer creations. Every time I imagined taking them down, my heart filled with an uncanny aching cheer.

Rationally, I understood what was making me feel that way, but what could I do? The barrier I’d put up was gradually, quietly being eaten away by the mysterious entity. Over the last few days, it had learned a few lessons. And now, it was behaving a good deal more subtly and delicately than before.

The spirit, which had been travelling around the area all that time, only brought bad news. This morning, it told me the pack of undead had gained another five members, meanwhile adding that it only had three sparks left over from what I’d given it in Foreston. That meant there wouldn’t be any more potions.

After a short break, I took one last sip of elixir and moved forward. The spirit had gone out to scout a few hours earlier. I was already starting to get slightly worried. It had never been gone this long before.

And so, when a cheery exclamation virtually exploded in my head, I was actually happy. Not for long, though. My head… My poor head… It’ll do me in before the wraiths even get here.

“I found it!” he shouted. “I found it! In an ancient, abandoned mineshaft! The perfect place for an ambush!”

“Is it far?” I asked, frowning

“No! We’ll be there by sundown!”

The spirit was not lying. We reached the mineshaft before the sun dipped beneath the horizon.

At first, I was expecting to see a little entrance, but the huge set of gates set into the black hill were easily wide enough for two carts to drive past one another. The location had an air of antiquity and the primeval. I didn’t sense any magic, or outsiders for that matter. But nevertheless, local flora clearly had a hard time taking root on the black hill.

I stopped in front of the massive stone gates, and they flung open wide. I peered inside and took a sniff.

“Nobody there,” the spirit told me. “That’s what took me so long. I had to study the first few levels.”

“Find anything interesting?”

“Old broken-down minecarts, age-old dust, chunks of ore.”

“Why didn’t you go further down?”

“There was no need,” the spirit replied. “All the lower levels are flooded. I imagine that’s why the former owners abandoned it.”

“Based on the monumental gates, looks gnomish.”

“Maybe so,” said the spirit, and added with a sigh: “But unfortunately, there wasn’t a decent map of this part of the continent in the Order’s library.”

“Alright,” I nodded. “Lead the way.”

We didn’t have to go far. Once we reached the second level, we found ourselves in a large cave which, based on the large number of tunnels converging there, was a crossroads of some kind. And that cleared things up for me. Here it was! The perfect place to enact my plan! No more, no less. Exactly what I needed. The Crusher could fill it up completely. There wouldn’t be any gaps where enemies could hide.

I walked a slow circle around my chosen battlefield. I checked it for cracks, stones or pits in the floor. I glanced down the forking paths. All good.

I decided to greet the creatures on a narrow ledge sticking out of the wall around thirty feet tall like the tongue of some huge monster. The spirit I sent out to stand watch at the mine entrance.

I got comfortable on the edge and, crossing my legs, waited. The spirit came so fast I was a bit surprised. I wanted to give it a tongue-lashing for coming back over nothing.

I could sense its emotions. A mixture of delight and incomprehension.

“Master, out there…” was all he was able to say.

An instant later, a powerful wave of new emotions bowled me over! The surprise almost knocked me off the ledge. I felt everything: happiness, an orgy of delight, and bitter reproach!

I felt my lips spreading out into a smile.

Following the spirit through the passage, a huge black shadow slipped inside and froze, panting in the middle of the cave.

“Hrn!!!”

Chapter 9

IN TWO BOUNDING LEAPS, Gorgie made it over to me. Before I could even get my bearings, I’d been licked head to toe as he purred exuberantly.

If someone asked me exactly what I said to the harn with a happy smile on my face as a squeezed him tight, I’d have a hard time remembering. Did I even say anything? Most likely, it was only an exchange of emotions. He told me off for being gone so long and was happy to have found me. I then in my turn explained myself and swore that I hadn’t forgotten about him for a single moment and had also been searching for him.

The touching family reunion was broken up by the spirit telling us the first wraiths had already reached the mineshaft entrance.

Having Gorgie around made taking down the pack of undead significantly easier. The trap worked as intended. The necromorphs and wraiths, attracted by their thirst to kill and lacking self-preservation instinct, jumped fearlessly into the magic fog only to fall dead not long after. The few creatures that were able to break through the lethal barricade were stopped by Gorgie. The harn was everywhere. One minute he knocked a particularly nimble level-ninety wraith off the wall, and the next he was sticking his spike into the head of a lizard-like undead creature that jumped out of the shadows.

I only cast spells twice during the whole fast-paced scuffle. I helped Gorgie with lightning, rendering two creatures immobile, and caught a dark spider with a Ram in midair.

— Your pet has killed Wraith (90)

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (18,000)

― Gold tablet (10)

— Silver tablet (30)

— Dark Hunter Fury (22.5)

With that message, the Great System drew a line. The battle was over. A few minutes later, the undead creatures were no more.

The magic fog gradually thinned out, leaving behind dozens of half decayed bodies, which started filling the cave with a revolting stench. Pinching my nose, I hurried to leave.

Once outside, I filled my lungs with humid, evening air and breathed a sigh of relief. I glanced at the starry sky and smiled. A good battle. A quick win. This was how it was supposed to be.

“So then,” the spirit announced. “Your loot: four hundred ninety-eight thousand esses, eight hundred thirty silvers and a hundred eighty gold tablets. Dark supply almost full. Still not a single diamond tablet. I am compelled to admit though that after that battle, your scheme doesn’t seem quite so crazy to me.”

The spirit flew a slow circle around Gorgie, who was looking back, intrigued by the flying opaque cloud.

Once finished examining, the spirit shared its conclusions:

“Hm… We’re going to need a lot of resources to bring your creature up to a tolerable level.”

Gorgie glanced at me. I saw incomprehension in his animal eyes.

“Hrn?”

I chuckled:

“Get used to it. He’s part of the family now.” Then I asked: “Where are Sparky and Coal?”

* * *

We reached the small bay where my pets were sheltering by evening of the second day. At the time I thought that, if the spirit had not found that mineshaft, I’d have most likely led the undead straight here. And I never would have needed the trap. Against the whipsnakes, a pack of fifty, only eighteen of them wraiths with the rest low-level necromorphs, wouldn’t have stood a chance. Still, I was happy it all worked out how it did, because I had bad news waiting for me in the bay.

My reunion with Sparky was no less emotional than with Gorgie. The giant snake snuggled me and hissed in excitement like a little grass snake. I was bowled over by a wave of joy, and she immediately insistently dragged me over to the entrance to a small grotto where, on a little bed of black seaweed, coiled up into a ball, Coal was lying unconscious.

The fragmentary mental images Gorgie and Sparky kept throwing at me a bit too fast eventually gave me the full picture.

After I ordered Sparky to grab Coal and run away, the first place my pets went was Narrow Lake. At first, everything was fine, but then I got the dark mark. The Heart of the Forest very quickly turned against the idea of sharing space with the pets of a darksider. And so, the harn and whipsnakes had to hurriedly leave the “friendly” territory and make for the ocean.

Every day, Coal got worse. It was all down to a complex magical injury he’d sustained from one of the daeva brothers. The evil magic was stopping the wounds from healing, blocking regeneration, and gradually destroying the whipsnake’s energy system.

Sometimes, Coal would come to for a short while and eat something lazily, while Sparky and Gorgie took turns hunting and protecting him. And that was the main reason they hadn’t gone off to look for me. But that all changed a few days ago when Gorgie suddenly caught wind of me.

“I’m surprised he’s still alive,” the spirit said quietly after studying Coal’s wounds.

I sat on the ground with my back leaning against the snake’s hot side and stared at a fixed point. Externally, I was calm, but inside I was a storm of fury. The spirit could sense that, so he was delicate.

“Your wounds had a similar structure,” he said.

I shuddered and turned my head toward the opaque silhouette.

“Primordial blood?”

“Yes,” the spirit answered quietly.

“Well, it can help Coal, too,” I said, standing suddenly to my feet.

Gorgie barked while Sparky hissed. They were both saying they would follow me to the very heart of the Abyss if I asked.

“But you are not ready…” the spirit tried to object. He could already tell where I was going. “And they are not ready… The old woman is a very dangerous opponent! The Anomaly only makes her more powerful!”

“I need her blood,” I came coldly, activating Coal’s summoning amulet.

The giant whipsnake’s body immediately disappeared.

“And as for whether they’re ready,” I continued, nodding at the harn and snake. “You know what we have to do.”

“You want to use your reserves on them?!” the spirit exclaimed.

“Yes,” I responded, stepping toward the grotto exit. “But first we have to do some hunting.”

* * *

It had been two weeks since we left my pets’ shelter near the bay. And in one day, we would reach the place where my adventures on the Dark Continent started. Somewhere in the Dead Ocean, near the mouth of the river, laid the wreck of the Shark, the ship that brought me to these cursed lands.

I still recalled how shaken I was by the death of the Shark’s crew. The sailors, who’d risked life and limb to go on a long journey during the stormy season in the end perished not in some squall, but at the hands of a group of people regarded as paragons of valor and honor in their homeland of Fradia. Takeda and his troops weren’t too fussy about getting rid of witnesses.

I often thought back on Timmy, the seventeen-year-old ship’s boy who dreamed of returning home to bring his little sister a souvenir shell from the coasts of the Dark Continent. Timmy helped me get through that trip but, alas, never made it home. His family never found out what became of their son and brother, either. And on that very day, I promised to right that wrong.

Gorgie’s paw started twitching in his sleep as I lied up against his warm side, distracting me from the dismal thoughts. Not looking away from the fire, I quietly stroked the harn on his armored neck.

I decided not to retrace my steps to the river, reasonably concluding that my old tracks would be sure to attract necromancer abominations. And I was exactly right. I no longer had any doubt it was all due to the dark mark. My mysterious patron goddess and the god of the necromancers clearly did not get along. I even said my theory out loud a few times to try and make the dark goddess speak, but she ignored me. She must have chosen a different tactic to win me over.

I looked over at my sleeping pets. Over the last few days, we’d cleared a good deal of undead off the eastern coast. We’d eliminated six large packs similar to those I’d lured to the mineshaft. Plus a few smaller groups. In the end, it got me just over four hundred creatures. Honestly though, just seventy of them were high level. The others got me nothing but Silvers and esses. However, at least there was one reassurance: the farther we went, the more dangerous our opponents became. The edge of the anomaly was only a few more days’ travel.

I had yet to use any tablets or esses on my pets. They were performing admirably as it was. Gorgie was up to level forty-eight while Sparky was at fifty-one. I had only added a couple dozen points to Coal’s Animal Regeneration so his body could better cope with the injury. Honestly though, that was only a temporary measure. Very soon, the whipsnake’s inner reserves would run out. He had already held out an unbelievably long time.

“Tomorrow morning, we will reach the river,” the spirit reported upon returning to camp.

As of late, my keeper spirit had not been particularly talkative. I had noticed that the closer we came to Foreston, the more taciturn it was getting. Seemingly, it had already made peace with the notion that I was not planning to back down from my scheme and was simply scared of the upcoming confrontation with Black Annis.

I could sense the spirit was slightly agitated. The report must not have been over. It must have seen more up ahead.

“Speak,” I encouraged it.

“Well, here’s the thing,” it hesitated. “Up ahead there… On the riverbank… Well, let’s just say I suggest we try to cross the river elsewhere.”

“What did you see?”

The spirit breathed a fated sigh. It was seemingly coming to regret starting this conversation.

“There’s a battle being fought on the riverbank,” it quickly replied and spat out staccato: “I know we need resources, but there are just too many creatures! We aren’t ready to stand up against such forces yet!”

“Tell me,” I ordered, quickly getting to my feet.

Gorgie woke right up and growled unhappily. Sparky’s huge head emerged from the darkness. She started staring curiously at the spirit’s opaque silhouette.

“Three huge river creatures are fighting the undead,” the spirit exhaled.

“How many are there?” I asked, scattering coals with my feet.

“When I left, there were fifty-four necromorphs, a dozen wraiths, three spiders, one acid worm and around fifty flying creatures.”

A ravening smile appeared on my face. Gorgie barked happily while Sparky started hissing.

“You don’t understand!” the spirit made another attempt, hot on my heels. “The undead are not what I’m afraid of, it’s those river crabs. They’re truly gargantuan. I wouldn’t be surprised to find they’ve already finished off the attackers!”

“Sounds like we need to hurry,” I came, switching to a run.

“The beasts are all over level two hundred!”

“Excellent!” I exclaimed and quickened my pace.

“Yes, but…”

“Have you ever heard the parable of the leopard sitting on the mountain?” I asked.

Just then, we were emerging from a small glade and carrying on down the sandy shore, which the pounding waves and moonlight made look like cast steel.

“No,” the spirit replied after a brief pause. “There was no such book in the Order’s library.”

Speeding up, I pushed off a large boulder and made a long jump onto Sparky’s scaled back. I went the rest of the way standing on her flat head.

“Odd… My father used to tell it to me all the time.”

“What’s it about?”

“A leopard sitting up on a mountain watching two lions in the valley below fight over an antelope carcass. It waits for the two stronger predators to mess each other up, then sneaks over and makes away with their quarry.”

“Are you trying to say you’re like that leopard?”

“Not exactly. I’m planning to both kill the lions and take their quarry.”

* * *

A few hours later, before the edge of the sun appeared over the horizon, we made it to the river. I chose a small hill with a good view of the shore as an observation point.

I snorted. We had no reason to hurry. The bloodbath was just picking up steam.

The spirit was not lying. The river crabs really were juggernauts. Now there were five of them. They were crushing undead right and left. Their massive claws tore their foes to shreds. Their sharp-tipped feet stomped the bodies of the fallen into the sand, the large amount of blood and chunks of flesh forming a red-tinged mud.

The spirit was wrong about one thing, though. It thought the crabs would kill all the undead before we got there. But they didn’t. The death-magic modified creatures were much more numerous than the keeper claimed. And they just kept coming and coming.

“How many of them are there now?” I whispered to myself.

“One hundred thirty-eight on the ground and forty-three in the air,” the spirit replied quickly.

I glanced at the predawn sky. Dark shadows of huge-winged bats circled over the giants’ backs. Occasionally, some of them would fold their wings and dive bomb down to join the fray. As a rule, they didn’t do any damage and died straight away, but when I took a closer look, it started making sense. Their suicide attacks were meant to distract the crabs. The nimble wraiths meanwhile would sneak up closer and try to damage the most vulnerable parts of the river monsters’ bodies.

And the tactic was bearing fruit. A few of the crabs were missing limbs. And seemingly, the largest of them had lost its eyes. Dark liquid was seeping from its black eye sockets.

Based on the dismembered bodies of the giant worms and spiders, the crabs were not huge fans of their acid and webs. The river monsters were trying to get rid of them first of all.

Initially, I didn’t totally understand why the crabs were still fighting. Why weren’t they trying to flee up or down the river? After all, the undead just kept coming. I didn’t much believe the crabs lacked survival instinct. But then I noticed something curious.

The dismembered bodies of the undead were starting to gradually disappear. When I looked closer, I saw something else. Small and translucent, they were either slugs or worms. While the battle raged, the nimble little creatures kept pulling dead necromorphs, wraiths and flying monsters into the river. At first, I thought they were acting opportunistically like the leopard from the parable, but then it hit me. The translucent worms were working in concert with the crabs. They seemed to be controlled by the giants in some way.

As if overhearing my thoughts, the spirit said:

“River lice and crabs live together in colonies. The former hunt and protect, while the latter tend to the roe and feed the young.”

“Hm… Y’know, those lice really aren’t as harmless as they look,” I said while watching a worm’s body wrap around a necromorph that came a bit too close to the water.

“Level one hundred forty,” the spirit commented. “You still planning to join the fight?”

“Of course,” I nodded. “I seem to recall a certain buzzkill whining that we wouldn’t be able to get enough loot. It was your idea to hunt high-level creatures, right? Or have you forgotten?”

“Yes, but…”

“We prepared for this,” I interrupted him and started activating a spell.

Sparky and Gorgie walked over. The spirit muttered something quietly and shut its mouth.

“I attack first. You wait for my command.”

― You have activated the spell Breath of the Abyss enhanced by 1000 points of Dark Hunter Fury!

— Warning! The element you are summoning knows no mercy! Either take care to provide acceptable defense or try to stay away from the epicenter of the storm.

— Warning! Spell damage radius: 650 feet

I had no regrets about the fact I would be wiping out every living creature in the river along with the undead. Just like them, I was hunting for survival.

The Decay of the Abyss spell, transformed by dark energy into Breath of the Abyss, was one of the most dangerous in my arsenal even before transformation. But what I saw this time made the hair on my head stand on end.

It used to look like a magic black cloud, but now it was a huge wave of black flame that burst forward, consuming everything in its path. One second before loot notifications started crowding my field of view, I heard a purring whisper behind my ear:

“Magnificent, isn’t it?!”

Chapter 10

THIRTY HEARTBEATS. That was exactly how long it took for the wave of black flame to overcome the two-hundred-yard gap. Just thirty heartbeats and the monsters fighting on the riverbank ceased to exist. They couldn’t even tell what happened. Breath of the Abyss had turned their bodies into coal-black dust. The shallow water near the bank, teeming with lice just a few seconds earlier, was now covered in viscous bubbles.

The airborne monsters too close to the ground also got hit. That left very few creatures alive. And they were trying to attack us, but Sparky and Gorgie took them down easily.

“I understand the parable you told me now,” the spirit said contemplatively. “You just got more loot than the whole time since we left the fallen world. In esses alone you got just under three million. Five thousand seven hundred ten Silvers, one thousand eight hundred seventy Golds, and three hundred thirty diamond tablets. By the way, those lice made up the bulk of our quarry.”

With a grim look, I surveyed the riverbank, now a black wasteland, and said:

“It’s not over yet…”

“Yeah, I can see that…” the spirit said agitatedly. “I’m not sure if it’s worth it… Because it’s…”

“It is,” I threw out sharply. “I chose to walk this path.”

The spirit fell silent, but I could sense fear and doubt.

I opened the last few notifications again and read them closely.

— Attention! The Dark goddess Kera has taken notice of your accomplishment! Using a modicum of her Dark power, you managed to defeat 140 creatures more than 30 levels higher than you in one battle!

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (1,000,000)

— Silver tablet (200)

― Large crystal of dark fury (1)

— Attention! The Dark goddess Kera has taken notice of your accomplishment! Using a modicum of her Dark power, you managed to defeat 20 creatures more than 80 levels higher than you in one battle!

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (500,000)

— Gold tablet (50)

― Large crystal of dark fury (1)

— Attention! The Dark goddess Kera has taken notice of your accomplishment! Using a modicum of her Dark power, you managed to defeat 25 creatures more than 90 levels higher than you in one battle!

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (500,000)

— Gold tablet (50)

― Large crystal of dark fury (1)

— Attention! The Dark goddess Kera has taken notice of your accomplishment! Using a modicum of her Dark power, you managed to defeat 40 creatures more than 140 levels higher than you in one battle!

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (2,000,000)

— Diamond tablet (50)

― Large crystal of dark fury (2)

— Attention! The Dark goddess Kera has taken notice of your accomplishment! Using a modicum of her Dark power, you managed to defeat 5 creatures more than 220 levels higher than you in one battle!

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (2,000,000)

— Diamond tablet (50)

― Large crystal of dark fury (2)

— Attention! You have replicated the legendary feat of Orm the Crusher! The goddess Kera smiles upon you! Using her power, you have slain 300 creatures harboring a modicum of the energy of Shkha-Ras, god of death!

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (3,000,000)

— Iridescent Tablet “Avatar of Darkness” (1)

“Master,” the spirit bleated. “Do you really think it’s a good idea?”

“You know anything about this goddess?” I ignored his whining.

The spirit sighed fatedly and started to speak:

“A set of chronicles called, On the Ancient Gods, composed by Prior Kraus has a final part called ‘Forgotten Gods and Demons.’ As an aside, it was never finished.”

“Spit it out.”

“Anyhow, that section contains mention of both Kera and Shkha-Ras.”

“Do I have to pull it out of you?”

The spirit muttered something, offended, and continued:

“The Dark Goddess Kera is daughter of Nox, Goddess of Night and Erebus, God of Shadows. Prior Kraus states that Kera is one of the foulest deities, and very little is known about her. The reason for that is simple. Both mortals and the gods detested her. So very few ended up worshipping her. She became associated with misfortune, death and war. Kraus speaks of her as a vile bloodthirsty entity. Birthed from Night and Shadow, she derives sustenance from suffering and the blood of the dead. And thus, in her time, Kera was driven out of the Abyss.”

The spirit fell silent for an instant.

“Keep going,” I hurried him along.

“After being driven out, Kera wandered from world to world, inciting mortals to conflict and war. On the battlefield, she went looking for dead bodies so she could drink their blood. No one worshipped her or made sacrifices. Mortals who linked themselves with Kera were thought to have doomed themselves to a life of misfortune, ending in torturous death.”

Ahem… What a nice patron goddess I’d gotten myself. Now I see why everyone wants to take me down.

“What differences did she have with this Shkha-Ras?” I asked aloud.

“Shkha-Ras is the god of necromancers. In exchange for emanations of death, he grants his adepts a modicum of his energy, and they use it for transformations.”

“I see,” I snorted. “And Kera consumes this energy.”

“I’m afraid…” the spirit admitted unexpectedly. “She’s…”

“With no followers, temples or sacrifices like the other gods had, she found a way to survive,” I said thoughtfully. “Maybe she’s just the kind of patron we need. I mean, it’s not like this Shkha-Ras is hunting me down for no reason, right? He must see her as a threat.”

“You’re playing a dangerous game,” the spirit said quietly.

“You need a reminder who my enemies are?” I asked. “I need allies. And if that means joining forces with an ancient goddess obsessed with the blood of the dead, the goddess Fate must have willed it. Enough whining, let’s sort through Kera’s gifts.”

After saying that, I took out an iridescent tablet and, not waiting another minute, activated it.

— Attention!

— You have increased the Will characteristic by 10 points!

— Present value: 638

― Avatar of Darkness

― Level: 0 (0/30)

― Type: Spell

― Rarity: Legendary

― Description:

― Using this spell, mages can activate an avatar of darkness.

― Effect:

― Increases capacity of all the mage’s supplies by 50%

― Multiplies the following characteristics by 7: Strength, Wisdom, Speed, Accuracy and Agility.

― Powers up all spells.

― Requirements:

― Will – 250

― Consumes 5 points Dark Energy per second.

“Now we can do some fighting,” I smiled raveningly. “But alas, not for long. Considering the supply bonus, the avatar can last just five minutes. And I wanted to use Dark energy to activate spells, too.”

“Take a look at the crystals,” the spirit hinted quietly.

Unlike me, my keeper wasn’t expressing any cheerful emotions. And sure. Were it up to him, I’d be spending the rest of my life in a deep dark hole. Safe and sound. I personally had no problem with living somewhere safe, but I couldn’t do that until I’d slain all my enemies.

Following the spirit’s advice, I took out one of the crystals. It appeared like a common piece of obsidian. Only twice as heavy. I’m sure, if I were still a Monster Hunter, bitter saliva would have been flooding my mouth. But as I was, I found the Dark sorcery contained within the artifact more calming than bothersome.

― Dark Fury Crystal

― Dark Energy: 0/1500

“Now this changes things,” I nodded, rubbing my hands together. “Seven rocks in total. Puts the supply capacity up to eleven thousand five hundred. Now I won’t be running out so quick.”

Looks like our patron goddess has decided to switch from promises to action. All I have left to figure is what she wants in return.

As soon as I considered it, I heard a tender quiet whisper that sent a chill running down my spine:

“I trust you appreciate my gifts?”

* * *

It’s been five days since the memorable battle on the riverbank. Tomorrow we’ll cross into the anomaly.

I had been feeding my pets essences and tablets the whole way to make the absorption process go as painlessly as possible. Sparky, as the strongest, got the lion’s share of the loot. This morning, she hit level sixty-five. In other words, she hit the ceiling for upping characteristics with Gold. Now I could only power her up further with Diamond tablets.

― Sparkling Whipsnake

― Name: Sparky

― Level: 65 (0/2,210,000)

― Status: Loyalty to master (permanent)

― Mind: 1

― Strength: 2600

― Agility: 2600

― Intuition: 195

― Wisdom: 390

― Animal instinct: 390

― Speed: 2600

― Flexibility: 2600

― Intellect: 1950

― Health: 1950

― Endurance: 1950

― Mana supply: 20,000

― Life supply: 20,000

― Energy supply: 20,000

― Sparkling scales: 2600

― Defense: 26,000

― Regeneration: 520

Gorgie had also gone up six levels, putting him at fifty-four. Coal I hadn’t yet touched. I was not sure if he’d benefit from absorbing so many tablets and esses right now.

For the first time ever, I had run into a severe lack of experience essences. Heh… And to think, at lower levels, I had a glut of those and not enough tablets. Now everything hinged on experience.

I had earned a lot of loot since coming back. Adding my reserves to that, I came up with even more than I was expecting. Considering all the resources I spent powering up, I now had true riches in my backpack by the standards of my world.

― Experience essence (12,880,000)

― Gold tablet (7270)

― Diamond tablet (930)

― Silver tablet (53,210)

But I still thought it wasn’t enough. It would have been ideal to spend a few months progressing at this pace. But alas, Coal just kept getting worse. And that meant we could not keep putting off the trip to the anomaly.

Yesterday, we took down quite a large pack of necromorphs that had once been foxfolk. I was aware that sooner or later I would come across such creatures. I was internally prepared for the encounter. But when I saw the first death-magic disfigured foxman, I was still shocked.

Just a few months before, all these poor saps were enraptured by recent improvements to their hometown, dreaming of a tranquil life safe from harm. Some of them had fought shoulder-to-shoulder with me, defending Foreston from invasion. But now, directed by an unseen puppet master, they wandered the forest in search of fresh emanations of death.

Rationally, I understood that this was not my fault. When Pinebogey and I entered the city, Egbert already had spies embedded. So, all I had done was ensure Foreston held out longer than the Steel King intended. But deep down, I still blamed myself. I had declared myself their leader. I got them involved in a war. I was unable to keep them safe.

A quiet whisper from the spirit distracted me from the dismal thoughts.

“We’ve got company.”

I opened my eyes and looked down. I’d been spending nights up in the trees lately. Not starting fires. Subsisting on whatever I could whip up quickly during the day. Summoning Sparky only before battle. She was too conspicuous. Gorgie though was almost always with me. The spirit did a great job scouting, but I felt better at ease with the harn at my side. And now, they told me a small group was approaching at almost the exact same time. And this one was not undead, they were living, intelligent creatures.

“Check it out,” I sent the spirit a mental order. And he instantly disappeared into the trees. But a few minutes later, he was back with a sunny report:

“Three foxfolk. Riding lizards. Badly beat-up. They look like they’re being chased. They’ll be here soon!”

That jolted me awake. I got up. It must have been a scout party.

“On my command,” I whispered with lips alone.

Gorgie slunk down to a lower branch and got ready to pounce.

The three scouts didn’t keep us waiting long. The riders leapt out from a wall of bushes into the meadow and stopped short.

“We should be going to the river,” I heard a rasping bass.

“Then they’ll push in on us from three directions,” a weary woman’s voice objected.

“We can’t go to the valley, either,” the third rider chimed in. “The flying ones will quickly…”

But before he could finish, he was interrupted by the woman’s voice, sounding alarmed:

“To arms! There are darksiders nearby!”

I heard someone hawk a loogie. I rolled my eyes. Sure, of course they could sense me.

The foxfolk bunched up and brandished their blades. Their lizards gave a menacing hiss, twitching their long tails nervously.

But that made me ask a question: “Why stop?” Run away! But no, they had decided to die like heroes. Instead of cutting off whatever was tailing them, I’d have to make contact. And after all, I already had a basic idea of how the conversation might end. We’d just make a bunch of noise without accomplishing a thing.

I slipped down to a lower branch.

“Maybe it’s just you,” the bassy voice theorized.

“No,” the woman replied.

“I can sense it, too,” the third sounded off.

I moved the branch carefully and made a quick jump to the right.

“To the left!” the woman shouted, and an arrow slammed into the tree trunk where I’d just been standing, followed by two more.

Hm… She’s quick!

“Get out of here!” I said. “I am not after your lives!”

“Who are you, brute?!” the first foxman boomed out. “Show yourself!”

The archer woman just kept sending down her hail of arrows, aiming wherever she heard a sound. But the tactic was doomed. I could move faster.

“Don’t waste your arrows,” I came, hiding behind a wide tree trunk. And that was immediately followed by two dull thuds. “I told you already. Better get out of here while you still have time.”

“Who are you?!”

“Someone who doesn’t want you to die,” I said and peeked out cautiously around the trunk. Gorgie’s dark shadow flickered in the bushes behind the riders. I suddenly distantly considered that I had them in a trap. One word from me, and the harn could take them down in less than a second. They were just regular soldiers. No magical defense.

I shook my head hard and rubbed my eyes. What was I just thinking? What was that just now? Actually… I know what that is. My goddess cheerleader acting up.

“Sparky, your turn,” I whispered and activated the amulet.

The lizards were first to notice something was off. They started hissing in fear and stepped back. The riders, thrown off by their pets’ behavior, tried to settle them to no effect.

In the meantime, Sparky caught the trio in a circle. When her huge head emerged from the darkness, they finally realized who fate had brought into their path.

The woman slowly lowered her bow.

Her companions looked on silently with heads bowed as the snake head came closer.

Slipping smoothly down from the tree, I took a few steps toward the middle of the clearing and stopped. Throwing back my Marauder hood and deactivating invisibility, I stepped out of the shadows into the moonlight.

When they saw me, the foxfolk shuddered and all winced. The biggest of them spat on the ground to make a point. I couldn’t recall their faces, but I didn’t look very closely. But me they recognized right away.

“Vile traitor!” a gray foxman squeezed out through his teeth and pulled back nervously on the reins. “You serve the necromancers now?”

The woman cringed and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Stop talking,” she quietly put him in his place.

I chuckled awkwardly and said:

“I see at least some of you know how to behave.”

“My name is Ree, I…”

“I don’t care about your names,” I threw out and added, staring right into the eyes of the foxman who insulted me, “and I don’t care what you think about me. And by the way, if any of you get the crazy idea to try and complete a certain system mission, let me tell you right away, I will kill you without so much as batting an eye.”

The gray foxman broke under my stare and looked away.

“And now get out of here. You’ve wasted enough time as it is.”

The foxfolk traded surprised glances.

“You’re letting us go?” the scout asked. “But why?”

“Because I have a message for your magisters,” I replied, and trying to keep my voice steady, asked:

“Is Murk alive?”

“Yes,” she nodded.

I breathed a furtive sigh of relief. So, he made it.

“Then tell him that, tomorrow, I will enter the anomaly to slay the creature that now dwells there.”

The foxfolk traded puzzled glances. I could see they didn’t believe me. To be frank, I didn’t care. It had only just occurred to me to tell anyone about my plans. You might say I just decided to take advantage of the chance meeting.

If word from me did reach Murk and he felt like attacking the anomaly from the forest, it would simplify my task significantly. But if not, nothing would change. I was still planning to kill Black Annis.

“I’ve said all I have to say. Now you hurry along. You’ve got monsters on your trail. Better escape downriver while it’s still quiet. We thinned the ranks of the undead there a bit.”

After saying that, I threw my hood back on and stepped back into the darkness. Then, I darted behind the nearest tree and activated a summoning amulet, making Sparky disappear into thin air.

The woman again proved herself the most reliable of the three and nodded into the darkness in silence, pulled back on the reins and started off.

“Ree?!” the big one asked, baffled. “You’re just going to take him at his word?!”

“And you’re leaving without getting revenge for our brethren?!” the third foxman backed up the second.

“Shut your mouths and get moving!” she hissed through her teeth.

“Well, you do realize that we will not let this go, right?” the big guy said, squinting angrily. “The magisters will hear about this.”

“Your mercy is going to cost us reputation with the Order,” the gray foxman echoed.

“You should worry less about your reputations,” she chuckled. “And more about your lives. And as for whether I believe what he said, my job is to report all this back to Murk. And let him decide what to do. And another thing… While some turned tail and fled, I was one of the last to leave Foreston that day. And there’s one thing I can tell you for sure. I do not recall Eric ever betraying anyone. I survived that day only because he fought to his last breath!”

The last few words came out louder than the others. It must have been her way of thanking me. I chuckled. Looks like things aren’t as bad as I thought.

Chapter 11

AFTER WE TOOK DOWN the small pack of necromorphs following the foxfolk, I realized there was no point waiting for morning. Because before dawn, while fording a river at a bend, we found the edge of the anomaly where the outskirts of Foreston had once been.

The closer I came, the more the environment came to life. Undead were scurrying around like ants building an anthill. Thanks to my invisibility, I was able to cross into the anomaly without incident. I did have a nasty surprise in store, though. One that I should have been expecting.

Trying to keep as quiet as possible, I made it deep into the forest before suddenly seeing a system message:

― Attention! You have crossed into an Anomaly called Black Annis’ Lair!”

― Stay on your guard! From this very moment, all the inhabitants of the Anomaly are aware an outsider has encroached upon their realm!

It was like I could sense the tension in my skin. A chill ran down my spine, but I felt no fear. I had come to kill. I needed that witch’s blood. But after I saw what the nutcase had turned the forest around the former Order of Hunters capital into, my desire to end her life transformed into something unrestrainable.

Gallia had once told me about Black Annis’ penchant for hanging the corpses of her victims from tree branches, but at the time I took it for just another old wives’ tale used to scare disobedient children into going to bed.

But as soon as I crossed into the anomaly, I stopped ten paces from a tall tree with a dark ruddy slime coating its bark. And up in the branches, heads down, I saw the bodies of foxfolk, halflings and humans hanging like Christmas ornaments. Clenching my fists, I took a look around. There were trees like it everywhere.

When the wave of fury had retreated, and I was able to think normally again, I got caught up on an idea. How were there so many humans here? But then I took a closer look at the undead and realized they were explorers from Zoe Weber’s party. So, they got them, too…

There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky that night, meaning the following day promised to be sunny. But as soon as I entered the anomaly, the sky was draped in dark leaden clouds.

Everything stunk of mold and decay. Shadows all around. Black trees with abhorrent compositions hanging from their branches. Graveyard silence. It gave the impression I’d landed myself in the Kingdom of Death and that no one had been here a long time other than wordless half-decayed bodies. The necromorphs and wraiths meanwhile were keeping their distance from the anomaly for some reason.

As the system notification said though, my visit had not gone unnoticed. Very soon, local fauna started coming out of the woodwork. I heard a faint roar from where the city had once been.

“Looks like the anomaly guardians are coming to pay us a visit,” I said, summoning Sparky and Gorgie.

Then, turning to the spirit, I said:

“You know what to do.”

“Yes, master,” he responded and disappeared among the trees.

While my pets and I tested the guardians’ strength and made our way to the middle of the anomaly, the spirit would be working on another task. I hope he can pull it off.

Another roar came, but this time several at once. Another few voices joined in. Our coming had awoken the whole forest.

I quickly glanced at my pets. In a few bounding leaps, Gorgie hid among the trees. While Sparky and I held back the onslaught, the harn would be making sneak attacks. Unlike Sparky, who had grown a great deal in size recently, Gorgie would have an easy enough time maneuvering between the trees. Close combat and the element of surprise were his strong suits.

I wouldn’t say we chose a great place for the fight. But I wouldn’t call it terrible either. The clearing, surrounded by several dozen nasty thick-trunked trees would become a mass grave for the creatures rushing our way.

While proceeding along the trees, I checked the ground for stones or divots. I didn’t want any surprises after things got started. Sparky coiled herself up and, sticking her head out, stared into the darkness of the forest.

I didn’t have to wait long. The cracking of breaking branches, a malicious roar and heavy stomping sounded out nearby. An instant later, tearing up the ground with its claws, a giant coal-black monitor lizard jumped into the clearing.

While the creature turned its flat head blindly from side to side, I quickly studied its parameters. Level one hundred ten. Doesn’t use magic. Characteristics at about level eighty. They all have higher ceilings than they would for a human, but lower than for a harn. In other words, no match for my pets.

The monitor raised its elongated head up and took a greedy sniff through its broad nostrils. Quickly determining our location, the monster came racing forward, tearing up turf and soil.

When the anomaly guardian was just over a dozen paces away, I gave a command to Sparky. Her long serpentine body shot off like a spring, her bony tail tip whipping at the running brute fast as lightning. And a second later, the monitor lizard’s flat head burst like an overripe watermelon.

After taking ten final steps out of inertia, the decapitated guardian made an awkward somersault and spread-eagled on the ground. Its muscular body spasmed a few times before falling silent.

— Your pet has killed Anomaly Guardian (110)

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (22,000)

— Diamond tablet (5)

― Gold tablet (20)

— Silver tablet (50)

— Dark Hunter Fury (27.5)

“One down,” I commented with a ravening grin.

“Hrn,” Gorgie chimed in from the darkness, sounding insulted.

“Don’t you worry,” I reassured him. “You’ll get your chance soon.”

To back that up, a roar came blaring in from the right and left. I habitually counted up a dozen distinct voices.

“See,” I chuckled. “And you were worried.”

Quickly going behind a tree, I got ready to activate a spell. Sparky hissed in warning. The creatures had encircled us.

Finally, our new opponents spilled out of the darkness into the clearing. Five. The creatures were in some way similar to wargs, but larger and heftier. However, unlike the orcish pets, these monsters had scales instead of fur. Flat drooling snouts. Yellow fangs. Big thick veiny paws ending in black, curved claws. Wide ribcages.

Unlike our first opponent, these monsters were acting cautious. It’s immediately apparent that they are used to hunting in a pack. Levels in the nineties. About the same parameters as the wraith. Honestly though, their agility and speed are much lower.

Their ruddy scaled bodies got into a semicircle formation and got ready to attack. They were clearly waiting for a signal from the pack alpha. I could tell who he was right away. The huge creature was so dark brown that it nearly looked black and had positioned itself in the center of the formation.

Sparky gave a menacing hiss, letting me know she was ready to tear these weaklings to shreds. I meanwhile was in no rush to give the command. I was waiting for another pack to show up. I didn’t want to waste mana. We still had many fights ahead of us. I wanted plenty of targets so I could slam them with an area of effect spell.

The black alpha, as if overhearing my thoughts, barked out loudly and the brutes rushed on the attack.

“Conserve mana!” I loudly warned my pets and activated Glitterspark Eel’s Chain Lightning. One of my lowest expenditure spells.

― You have activated the enhanced spell Dark Lightning by using 150 points of Dark Hunter Fury!

I had used approximately the same thing to attack the blackblood mother in a ruined explorer village once upon a time.

Just as the pack of scaly wargs flew on the attack, a set of thick, coal black intertwining tentacles came bursting from my hand. The five dark outgrowths slammed into the alpha’s body with a faint thud. The other tentacles lashed the remaining creatures. Not a second later, they went all rolling over the ground before coming to a stop like lifeless dolls. Gorgie jumped straight out of the darkness and ended the battle with a few economical blows.

The system then rewarded me with a grand total of five standard notifications.

― Your pet has killed Anomaly Guardian (90)

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (18,000)

― Gold tablet (10)

— Silver tablet (30)

— Dark Hunter Fury (22.5)

I took a quick peek at my dark fury bar. Almost full. Great.

To be frank, none of this was working out the way I’d imagined. I thought I’d have to fight my way through a big group of undead to make it to the center of the anomaly. Like the Black Widow’s anomaly. She was merciless in her treatment of uninvited guests. But here… Everything seemed off… For some inexplicable reason, necromorphs weren’t entering the anomaly either.

Gorgie then gave an inquisitive growl, breaking my train of thought.

“No,” I answered calmly. “Let’s keep waiting. This is actually a pretty good position.”

* * *

The dark arrow sunk into the chest of a creature jumping at me. The wounded anomaly guardian was immediately finished off by Gorgie who then made a bounding leap to the left. While I readied a second arrow, the next creature was already twisting in predeath convulsions with a pulped head. The bone spike at the tip of the harn’s tail broke through both the creature’s armor and skull.

To the right, a ruddy scaled body soared through the air. And an instant later, a big wide snake mouth chomped it in half. I dashed forward. A short slash and my blade, reinforced with Dark energy, crunched through the square head of another opponent. The anomaly guardian landed a step away from Sparky’s tail with a faint growl and went limp once and for all.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a thick reddish-brown pool spreading out under the creature’s head. And straight away, I sensed movement behind me.

“Hrn!” Gorgie growled in warning, making me crouch and take a long somersault left.

I swung my blade at random and another warg went racing past with a whizz. The snake’s lithe tail pinned the guardian down.

“Thanks!” I smiled and saluted my pets with the blade before throwing myself back into the fight.

It had been days since we crossed into the anomaly. And ever since, all we’d been doing was fighting our way forward. And the closer we got to the center, the more guardians came crashing down on us. At this rate, we’ll reach our destination by morning.

The lady herself had yet to deign to show her face. But my pets and I could sense her presence constantly. She was in no rush to attack. Must have been waiting for us to get tired out. But that’s gonna be a problem for her. I had only been using my most economical spells the whole time. Gorgie and Sparky meanwhile were relying on physical attacks. My Regeneration was able to make that up very quickly. The battles were more like beat-downs. And Black Annis seemed to be aware of that.

Knowing she was watching, a few times I tried to provoke her, shouting out loud insults. But the old woman never responded for some reason. Perhaps she’s luring us into a trap. That doesn’t scare me, though. I knew what I was getting into. I have a trick up my sleeve for that.

The large pack of scaled wargs that surrounded us a few minutes before had lost half its members. But despite that, they were still attacking ferociously.

And then one tried to sink its teeth into my leg. I waved a hand and dark stone spikes immediately grew up from the ground, sticking into its body with a nasty crunching sound. The guardian, wheezing in pain, writhed around like a worm on a hook. But before I could finish it off, I had to fight off two monitor lizards at once.

After fending off their fanged mouths with my weapon, I jumped back. The lizards wouldn’t back down. Raising my sword high overhead, I brought it down full force into the eye of the closest monitor to me. With aggrieved hissing, the creature raised its head and stumbled back, blocking the other lizard’s path.

That was enough time for me to activate gulper’s ram, which the System now called Fist of Gloom after a Dark energy transformation. The ball of Dark magic sent my opponents flying around the ground, breaking bones and tearing flesh. I got slightly carried away and invested four hundred dark fury into the spell. The lizards then fell silent on the ground like smashed puppets.

I gave my sword a hard shake to get the brownish blood off it. My hands started slightly vibrating from the extreme amount of magic power and tension. A predatory smile got stuck on my face. I felt happy emotions from my patron goddess. Kera was now drinking in the emanations of death. The more beings slain by a mortal carrying her mark, the stronger she became.

Jumping over a monitor corpse that stunk unbearably of excrement and rotten innards, I landed next to a warg sneaking up on Sparky. I really wanted to activate Avatar of Darkness but stopped myself. I couldn’t let Black Annis know about that trump card just yet.

With a short “heh,” I threw Dragonfly. My high Accuracy and Throwing skills reinforced with Dark energy, performed as advertised. My body worked just like a well-oiled gnomish machine. My knife stuck into the creature’s right side as it got ready to jump with a dull squelching sound.

An instant later, before the squealing guardian could get its bearings, its chest was pierced by Spike, which went into its supple flesh up to the very handle. The monster shrieked in pain and fell dead on the ground.

Hopping over to the body, in one fluid motion, I pulled out Dragonfly and my sword, then, crouching down, got ready to attack another monster. But no attacks followed. The still living guardians were all concentrated on my pets.

I quickly looked around. The battleground was piled high with cadavers. The blood-soaked ground squelched underfoot. The yellow bones, slimy stinking innards. I could practically sense Kera’s adulation in my bones.

The System informed me that we had taken down forty-seven beasts in that battle. Just thirty remained alive, but that was not for long. Sparky and Gorgie handled them very quickly.

A barely audible rustling to the right drew my attention. I turned. Twenty steps away from me, a big huge monitor lizard was standing perfectly still. The creature was on its last legs. Thick ruddy slime was seeping from its split side. We locked eyes.

“Hey!” I shouted out mockingly and looked around at the black wall of trees. “Annis! Or whatever your name is! Is this all your guardians can do? I can tell you are near! Why don’t you show yourself? Come out so we can fight! I know you want it! What’s the hold-up?”

The forest responded with silence. Just the awkwardly limping monitor issued a menacing hiss.

I saw a few victory messages jump before my eyes. Sparky and Gorgie quickly took down the rest of the pack.

“Annis!” I made a final attempt. “I’m waiting! Are you really telling me an ancient primordial is afraid of some zero?!”

The monitor gave a dull hiss and came running forward with fury.

Twenty paces… Fifteen… Ten…

― You have activated the enhanced spell Dark Lightning by using 100 points of Dark Hunter Fury!

The Dark tentacles plunged into the creature’s chest. The monitor gave a sudden twitch and started slowly falling onto its side. An instant later, its big huge carcass was spread-eagled on the ground. Its split black tongue lolled out of its open jaws.

I walked up to the magically immobilized monster with deliberate slowness, like I was just out on a stroll. Then, after a quick look around, I stuck the tip of my blade into its heart. I had to spend two hundred dark energy. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have broken through the creature’s defenses. Less than a second later, the system told me my pets had also taken down their rivals.

Tilting my head to one side, I peered insistently into the dark glade. In the dim light between the trees, I saw flickers of an unkempt hairdo and a familiar gaunt silhouette.

The dead blue face appeared in the foliage for just an instant. The man-eating witch bored into me with her lone eye, and I saw hate and impatience in her black pupil as well as, seemingly, a hint of fear.

I first started getting ready to activate a spell, but the old woman quickly backed off and disappeared into the shadows of the black forest.

“Hrn?” Gorgie asked, appearing next to me.

“What next?” I snorted. “Tempting, of course. She’s got a surprise waiting for us in the middle of her lair.”

After that, patting him on his armored side, with a smirk I added:

“I hope she likes the gifts we brought for her.”

Chapter 12

AFTER THE LADY OF THE ANOMALY’s quick outing, it seemed like she would bring her whole army crashing down on us, but she didn’t. The guardians of course were constantly testing our defenses, but their performance was somehow lackluster and sluggish. Basically, the closer we got to the center of the anomaly, the more confident I became that Black Annis was luring us into a trap. For some reason I was unaware of, it was important for the old woman to kill me in the very center of her lair. So, by the time a few hours had passed, we found ourselves on the no-man’s-land that once divided the living city’s walls from the forest.

“The bastards!” I exclaimed passionately, taking in the scene unfolding before me. The rage took my breath away and made my eyes fade out for a second.

I was overflowing with fury and an unrestrainable urge to kill. And I had every reason. On my way here, I kept picturing the living city. And though I knew it would be defiled, I assumed it would still be alive enough to clean up after slaying the old woman. In the very worst case, I figured I might have to chop down a few particularly infested sequoias. But what I really ended up seeing surpassed my greatest fears.

Foreston was no more. No fortress walls, no twisting towers, no gates. The kingdom of the giant sequoias had ceased to exist.

The city so much effort and labor had been invested in, which so many of my hunter brethren had fallen to protect, had been simply pulled up by the roots by its invaders, and quite literally at that. All I could see before me was a huge wasteland with a large black crystal in the center. And the batty old woman was standing still a step away from it. She stood there with her arms folded on her chest, baring her teeth jeeringly. In her one eye’s black pupil, I saw a question: “Well, how do you like what I’ve done with the place?”

With a loud breath out, I closed my eyes for a moment. Then, after getting a grip, I cracked my neck and looked back at Black Annis.

“You’re going to regret staying here!” I shouted, taking a step forward. “Today is the day you die!”

At first, I walked slowly, pretending to be unsure, but my pace gradually quickened. Plus, I never stopped peppering her with curses, trying to use the most offensive insults I knew. It was important to show the old woman that she had successfully lured me into a trap.

By the time I started thinking Annis didn’t believe my burst of righteous anger, the vegetation surrounding the wasteland seemed to shudder. The black forest had come to life. With a menacing whisper, the roots and branches gave a strained screeching sound, and creatures snarled from every direction. It was as if the anomaly had only just noticed the outsider intruding on its domain.

Invisible waves of magic shot out from the crystal towering in the center of the wasteland. There was something familiar in the upwellings of magic. And then it hit me. It was the Foreston supply! Transformed by alien magic, and for some reason brought up to the surface.

I strained to resist activating avatar and bursting forward. I had a plan. I just had to not ruin it all at the last moment. And speaking of my plan… I quickly checked my supplies and nodded to myself. Full to the brim. Everything ready on my end ― now it’s your move, brute!

I started looking around and had second thoughts. Was this old bat acting implausibly stupid? Was I maybe just tearing my voice for no reason? Was it possible she didn’t even understand me? Who could say with these primordials? I quickly chased off the unwelcome thoughts. She knows exactly what’s going on. The spirit had told me Annis’ history. She was mentioned in the library. Now a primordial, she had once been a common witch and, seemingly, not even all that evil. But then something happened, and she swore allegiance to Darkness. Basically, she knows what’s going on. I can see her holding back. She’s calculating my every move. Soon, her trap will slam shut.

But that was just what I wanted…

When the one-eyed witch was just ten steps away from me, she turned her hideous face to the sky and chortled with shrill laughter.

The forest around the wasteland howled as if on cue. Between the trees, I saw movement. Beasts started jumping out into the wasteland one more terrifying than the next. Anomaly guardians, spiders, necromorphs, wraiths ― she had beasts of all kinds.

I was surrounded on all sides. Suddenly, the anomaly’s supply started vibrating as if it was about to explode into tiny shards. Doubts sank into my brain like ticks smelling blood. Stubbornly turning my head, I blocked myself off from the unseen effect and got ready for battle.

“Puny, pathetic cockroach!” I heard a rasping barking voice that sent shivers down my spine. “You’re the one who will regret coming here!”

I glanced firmly at Annis. She seemed to have doubled in size. Her dirty gray hair looked like a ball of poisonous snakes. Her long thin neck was covered with thick, taut veins. Her hideous eye turned bloodshot. Her wide mouth, filled with sharp teeth, spread into a satisfied bloodthirsty smile.

“Finally!” I chuckled back brazenly. “And here I’d started thinking I might have to chase you halfway across the continent.”

The witch waved a hand and the beasts surrounding me on all sides flew on the attack.

I gave Annis a careless wink and activated my summoning amulets. Just in the nick of time. A huge creature came bounding forward. Thick saliva dripped from its curved fangs. As I watched the monster coming at me, I was keeping an eye on the old woman.

My relaxed behavior had her slightly surprised. She was clearly expecting a different reaction. What a big frown.

This is just the beginning. Let’s see what you look like when I start opening my presents.

Meanwhile, a huge anomaly guardian came within range. Sparky, obeying my mental command, shot forward in a sharp burst. I’m always amazed when she does it. Her speed is striking. The air even started vibrating. As expected, the guardian only lasted a matter of seconds in the vice grip of the snake’s body. The system quickly reported back a victory.

Gorgie wasn’t standing still, either though. When yet another monster crossed the ten-step barrier and jumped, the harn caught it in midair with a tail whip. His steel spike pierced the creature’s heart and pushed it away. The guardian hit the ground and fell silent, its limbs splayed out awkwardly.

And a few moments later, the rest of the monsters reached us.

“Now,” I whispered and summoned the Crusher spirit.

The area around me quickly filled with black fog, which started spreading all directions hungrily, swallowing up the oncoming creatures in its insatiable belly.

Moving cautiously with the fog as cover and taking down monsters disoriented by the Crusher magic indiscriminately, I heard the witch give an angry outburst. My gift must have come as a surprise to her. But that was only the beginning.

“Her power is in the supply,” came a familiar purring voice.

“Thanks, captain obvious,” I waved off the spirit. “Is that all the help you can give?”

“She isn’t alone,” the goddess ignored my complaint.

But before I could answer, I heard a series of loud claps somewhere up above. Dozens, hundreds. I raised my head. A flock of winged necromorphs was circling just beneath the leaden clouds. But one of the silhouettes stood out. It was Crook.

“You know something?” I asked with a smirk. “I actually prefer it this way.”

The winged primordial could not see me. The Crusher spirit provided surefire cover, obstructing his view. He was turning his head nervously, trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on below, but still not having the courage to fly down lower. Memories of our last battle were probably still fresh in his mind.

Annis meanwhile, seeing that her warband was gradually starting to dissolve in the stomach of the uncanny being, thrust her hand forward and a grayish lilac whirlwind burst from her fingers.

Does she think that will blow away the Crusher? I thought better of her abilities.

The magic whirlwind slammed into the dark fog only to disappear without a trace. It happened with such lightning speed that Annis even froze with her mouth open for a second. I didn’t know what she used, but it must have been something devastating. And yet, it didn’t work.

Then, the witch shuddered and looked up. Aha… Looks like me and the spirit aren’t the only ones who can converse mentally. Crook was probably telling the old woman to step up her game after seeing that the mouse they’d caught in their trap was not dying fast enough. She nodded with annoyance and, turning away from the now wider cloud, focused her attention on the black crystal.

“Destroy the altar,” Kera gave me an unexpected hint.

“But where is it?”

“The supply is the altar. It’s a sacrificial altar to Shkha-Ras. They intend to bring him into this world.”

I shuddered. So that’s Alrak’s dastardly scheme. The last thing we needed here was a god of death.

“Are you with me?”

“Always,” Kera chuckled, and a second later the mark on my forearm warmed up. “But I do have one condition.”

I snorted. Of course, you do. Who could have doubted?

“No thanks. If you don’t want to help, I can handle this on my own. You’re getting a pretty good meal out of this as it is. Now you wanna set terms…?”

When I heard her hissing barely audibly in anger, I laughed. I can only imagine how angry she is, ruing the day she decided to bind her fate to such a headstrong mortal.

“If that’s the way you want to play it…” she finally squeezed out and fell silent.

I chuckled. She was offended. These gods are so touchy and thick headed. Though I do only know one goddess, I suspect the others are very much the same.

I can’t keep putting this off. I activated avatar of Darkness and burst forward, leaving the fog. The guardians protecting their master reacted instantly. A series of powerful wing flaps above told me Crook had also spotted me.

The avatar started transforming my body. My arms and legs got longer. My ribcage expanded with a nasty crack. My skin grew a coal black slime or perhaps tar which was tougher than any steel. I felt pressure in my temples. My mouth got wider. It turned into a set of jaws packed full of razor-sharp teeth. The sense of strength and lightness in my whole body brought with it an unusual feeling of freedom and power. I felt like I could tear my enemies apart with my bare hands. Or rather, my clawed paws.

Five beasts at once came rushing out to meet me. They were so slow. Fist of Gloom sent them flying different directions like ragdolls.

I just barely heard a clap over my head. A weak wave of compressed air hit me in the back. Quickly dodging a giant bat, I jumped up on its back in a fluid motion. Grabbing the shrieking beast by the wings and sinking my claws into its supple flesh, I pulled them toward me and tore out the leathery appendages with chunks of flesh.

Choking on a wail of pain, the now wingless flier rolled over the ground, spilling a good deal of blood. Hopping over to the necromorph, I ended its suffering in one swipe of the paw. Freezing for a moment, I looked up at the sky and growled out triumphantly. Gorgie responded to my war cry with a roar, and Sparky replied with a loud hiss.

Crook locked eyes with me. The horned primordial was hovering in midair, wings spread wide. I bared my teeth smugly and waved a hand. As if to say, “bring it on. I’m waiting.” But Crook was moving slow, and I knew why. He was waiting for the lady of the anomaly to make a move.

But I was not going to wait. Black Annis was just a few dozen paces from me. She was readying some powerful spell, but clearly wouldn’t have time to complete the cast.

Considering it briefly, I fired a couple black arrows at the witch to try and break her concentration. And it worked. The old woman was distracted from the cast and had to dodge my attacks. I followed that with lightning and a spear. To my disappointment, her shield absorbed it all. But then, I noticed small cracks forming on the black crystal. And it hit me. The primordial was easily fending off all my attacks because of her connection with the supply.

“Distract him!” Annis wailed out, throwing a ball of darkness my way.

I easily dodged and jumped forward. There were just a few steps between us.

“Come on!” the primordial kept shouting. “Otherwise, it’s all over!”

I do not know what scheme they had cooked up, but I was not going to let them finish what they’d started.

“They want to sacrifice you to Shkha-Ras,” Kera deigned to inform me. “That’s why they haven’t killed you yet.”

Things shifted. A huge shadow descended on me. Crook had decided to help Annis after all. Just in the nick of time.

An instant before the winged primordial fell on me, I recalled my pets and activated a spell.

― Using 5000 points of Dark Hunter Fury, you have activated the enhanced spell Judgement of the Abyss!

— Warning! The element you are summoning knows no mercy! Either take care to provide acceptable defense or try to stay away from the epicenter of the storm.

— Warning! Spell damage radius: 3,000 feet!

Crook overshot. At the last second, I managed to step out of his line of attack, then I heard a bloodcurdling sound. I quickly looked around. The scene unfolding before my eyes struck me with its lethal beauty and primordial cruelty. For a moment, I froze in place with my mouth agape.

A haze glimmering with thousands of black sparkles appeared over the wasteland where just a few seconds earlier I had seen dark fog, the black crystal, the lady of the anomaly, and Crook crashing awkwardly to the ground. The haze made up of hundreds of spindly whirlwinds chaotically whirled from side to side in constant motion and produced a roar loud enough to burst the eardrums.

The goddess’ magic was strikingly destructive. And that was just five thousand points of dark energy! I’m scared to even imagine what Kera herself might be capable of. Doubt crept into my heart for the first time. Should I perhaps stop resisting her call?

The first victory notifications had started coming in.

— You have killed Wraith (90)

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (18,000)

― Gold tablet (10)

— Silver tablet (30)

— Dark Hunter Fury (22.5)

— You have killed Anomaly Guardian (110)

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (22,000)

— Diamond tablet (5)

― Gold tablet (20)

— Silver tablet (50)

— Dark Hunter Fury (27.5)

And a few seconds later, so many notifications peppered my field of view it was like I was seeing colors. Is this a joke? An effective range of three thousand feet? Seemingly, the lady of the anomaly’s army had ceased to exist.

This time, Crook did not survive. The goddess’ magic plus the lack of protection from Alrak were enough to turn things in my favor. The flying horned monster fell ingloriously to Judgement of the Abyss without ever making his move. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

— Attention! The Dark goddess Kera, born of Shadow and Night, gives you her blessing! Using a modicum of her power, you defeated a Primordial being!

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Drop of Primordial blood (12)

— Heart of a Primordial (1)

— Attention! The Dark goddess Kera, born of Shadow and Night, gives you her blessing! You have replicated the legendary feat of Kand the Rapacious! You have defeated a Higher Follower of Darkness!

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (5,000,000)

― Diamond tablet (100)

— Gold tablet (300)

— Silver tablet (1000)

― Large crystal of dark fury (3)

— Iridescent tablet “Shield of Gloom”

The sheer amount of flashing text practically made me miss an attack by the one-eyed witch. She was essentially the only survivor of my spell. It must have been her connection with the supply that saved her. We had poured a lot of our own resources into making it this formidable, and now I’d have to fight against my own creation.

A clawed paw swipe just about took my head off. Miraculously dodging another blow, I somersaulted back and summoned my pets.

Ahem… Annis was on her last legs.

The element awoken by black magic had really messed the witch up. Her left arm was hanging limp. Her scalp was partially pulled off, revealing her skull, ridged with bloodied flesh. And worst of all, she had lost her one eye. Honestly though, it didn’t prevent her from having great orientation spatially. She must have activated magic vision.

“Your end is nigh, foolish little mortal!” she shrieked out suddenly and spat out a wad of blood on the ground with great effort. “You can’t even imagine whom you have begun to serve!”

Sparky, covering me with her body, was slowly pushing the old woman away from the altar. Gorgie was coming from behind.

“What was your condition?” I asked out loud.

“Kill her for me!” Kera replied unexpectedly loudly.

“No-o-o!” The now blind witch wailed out. “Just not like this! No!”

“And what will I get in return?” I asked the goddess, ignoring the old woman.

“No!” Annis barked, preparing for a final burst.

“Power!” the goddess shouted out with glee.

I could sense her excitement. She had finally opened up to me again.

“Tempting,” I snorted. “But I think I’ll pass.”

Giving a mental command to my pets, I jumped forward while Kera sighed in disappointment.

Chapter 13

ANNIS DIDN’T HOLD OUT much longer. Our concerted onslaught overpowered her primordial nature, the supply/altar, and her avatar. Gallia was right. The witch really could turn into a giant black cat. After transforming, she put up solid resistance, but quickly lost her verve. Judgement of the Abyss had done massive damage to the anomaly’s supply, making the old woman have to fall back on her own reserves, which very quickly ran out. Gorgie put the period at the end of the fight. While Sparky and I distracted the shapeshifting witch, the harn waited for the perfect opportunity and dealt a series of lightning-fast blows with his tail. The second to last one broke through the beast’s crest, while the last cracked her skull.

While standing over the dead body of a legendary primordial, a figure people told scary stories about, and reading the system notifications about the destruction of this anomaly, I caught myself thinking it didn’t go exactly the way I was imagining. To be frank, I was expecting to be more impressed by her. Crook died rather quickly as well. They’d put up a much better performance in the battle for Foreston.

“Why are you not celebrating?” the goddess’ satisfied voice pulled me from my thinking. “Are you not happy you won?”

I winced. Kera had gotten more talkative recently. She had started sensing my mood and desires, and I hers. And that put me on guard. If this kept up, I would start having a hard time telling my own desires apart from those of the bloodthirsty deity. I realized it was all due to the dark energy I had to use in every battle. After all, it was a modicum of her power. She was gradually penetrating my body and soul. I could feel it, but for some reason I was not afraid. Tense, sure, but not afraid. It wasn’t because Kera was unable to break my will for some inexplicable reason. No. I was just starting to grow accustomed to the power the goddess shared with me. The Great System blocked most of my spells, but I was now much more powerful than during the sack of Foreston. Considering all that, I was curious about the nature of the power she was constantly referring to.

“What are you contemplating, mortal?”

“It was too easy,” I shared my thoughts. “The first time we met, those two primordials were much more powerful.”

The goddess snorted.

“Oh, I’m sure! They had a priest of Shkha-Ras with them. He was sharing the god of death’s power with them.”

“One second…” I frowned. “Priest of what now? The last thing we need is a priest.”

“You just don’t know anything,” I heard her giggle. “The lich is a priest of Shkha-Ras. He was also the one, by the way, that dedicated this altar.”

“Alrak…”

“Now you’re getting it.”

“What about the Steel King?”

“Ironskin serves a different Dark god. Erebus. Lord of the kingdom of shadows. My daddy.”

The last sentence she nearly whispered. She must not have gotten along with her father. No wonder. What a family.

“But Ironskin is in no hurry to erect temples and sacrificial altars to his patron god,” Kera added. “He’s being cautious. And rightly so. Hehe…”

“Why?” I inquired.

“That’s none of your business, mortal,” the goddess took me down a peg. “If you become my priest, all secrets shall be revealed.”

“Only secrets?” I asked provocatively.

“Not only,” she quickly took the bait. “You saw what the lich could do, not to mention all those he shared the god’s power with.”

“Striking,” I let the comedy play out. I had to do it very carefully so the fish wouldn’t spit out the hook.

“You could become much more powerful than that necromancer!”

“And how might that work?”

“Become my priest!” she exclaimed cheerfully.

“I don’t know much about you,” I shrugged my shoulders and, with doubt in my voice, continued: “And everything I’ve heard makes me cautious. For instance, the fact no one builds temples for you, or makes sacrifices. Or the fact that all those who bind their fate to you are destined for a torturous death.”

“Weaklings!” Kera snorted scornfully. “I have many enemies and enviers among the gods.”

“I’ve heard all the gods are your enemies.”

“Yeah, so what? What good is being friends with other gods anyway?”

“You’re the first goddess I’ve ever spoken to.”

“The gods need not speak. But still, have they not taken care of you?”

“You mean the higher power that kept giving me rewards for achievements?” I perked my ears up. “Which god was that?”

“Many gods have taken notice of you,” she answered despite herself. “They were all trying to mold you in their image. After all, you fought Darkness selflessly. And how did your caretakers repay you? They labeled you a heretic!”

“That was my fault,” I muttered, digesting the information about the other gods. So, I had drawn the attention of several denizens of heaven. Surprising…

“What was your fault?” Kera asked with surprise. “You fought the followers of Shkha-Ras and Erebus to the very last! Yes, you used Dark energy… But so what? Results are all that matter! And how did they repay you?”

She really knows how to apply pressure. I really did believe I did not deserve the label of traitor and heretic.

“Do you mean to say you’re any different?” I chuckled.

“Of course! Can’t you see? Look around you! There isn’t a single living creature for a mile! You killed them all! And that is but a small drop of the power supply that will be available to you if you devote yourself to me fully!”

“What’s in it for you?”

“You’re unique! I’ve been searching for someone like you for centuries! And I’ve had my eye on you for a while. Ever since your first significant victory. Despite being the weakest of your kind, you managed to survive where others had perished.”

“Are you saying the Gulper Iridescent was your handiwork?” I asked ― perplexed.

“Yes,” Kera replied smugly. “Honestly though, the moment you shared your blood with the Hunter marker, you attracted other gods as well. I had to retreat into the shadows. The Order has too many patron gods.”

“Then, I upset the balance…”

“Yes,” she confirmed my guess. “You changed sides too suddenly. Your behavior was too unorthodox. And that’s why I like you! In the battle of Foreston, you easily could have fallen back without losing your advanced rank, or the favor of the light gods. But you chose to break the rules. You refused to put your tail between your legs and flee the battlefield!”

“Then you put a mark on me.”

“Everyone had turned against you. But had you perhaps chosen to become a lich like the priest of Shkha-Ras? That by the way is why he let you keep your life. I honestly do not understand why he let you go…”

“Let me go?” I perked my ears up.

“Of course. You think the golem your spirit servant assembled could escape the captured city so easily?”

“The spirit seems to think so.”

“And rightly so. That Alrak is up to something. Or perhaps Shkha-Ras himself. I don’t fully understand what he has planned, but I do have my guesses.”

“Care to share them?” I asked, trying my luck.

“It would be premature to make any conclusions,” Kera threw out sharply. “And what makes you worthy of this information?”

“What if I become your priest?” I went straight on the attack.

“Try it and see what happens,” she replied evasively and fell silent.

“And how would I go about doing that?”

“First of all, become my adept. Accept me as your goddess and patron.”

“Alright,” I nodded. “So, what does that entail?”

“Make a sacrifice in my name!” Kera lit up.

Her voice was quavering in impatience and excitement.

“What should I use for an altar?”

“We don’t need one to start! But after you become a priest…”

“And what kind of sacrifice would you need?” I decided to take advantage of Kera’s surprising gregariousness to find out more.

“Give up one of your pets for me!” she declared. “The second snake, for example. He’s at death’s door anyway. I would give you a generous reward for a sacrifice like him!”

Sparky and Gorgie started hissing menacingly at the same time. Unlike the bloodthirsty goddess, they could sense my mood perfectly well.

“So, you want me to kill one of my pets with my own hands?” I asked with deliberate composure.

“And it must be in my name!” Kera added.

I chuckled, mentally reassuring the snake and harn:

“And here I thought for a moment that you weren’t so bad. I thought you’d studied me. Now I see why no one wants to worship you.”

“You!” Kera growled angrily when the meaning of my words hit her. “You!”

I shook my head and stated derisively:

“You should have thought it through before telling me to do that… And you said you spent a long time observing me…”

The goddess had no response, but I could sense her tension in my bones. I was probably a hairsbreadth from dying. But that didn’t scare me. I had realized the nutcase goddess needed me more than I needed her.

Her silence didn’t last long. Honestly though, in that time, I managed to summon Coal and feed him some primordial blood. I dumped a whole five phials down his throat. Just to be sure.

Kera addressed me again while I was watching the whipsnake’s energy structure reconstitute itself. A smile played on my lips. The elixir worked. Coal was healing before my very eyes!

“Good,” she squeezed out. “I admit, I overplayed my hand.”

I just snorted. Just what I wanted her to say. She needs me.

“There’s another way.”

“To sacrifice one of your enemies?” I chuckled.

“All I need is for you to kill them in battle,” she responded. “To count as a sacrifice, it has to be something you value.”

“I see,” I said, placing a hand on the whipsnake’s head. “And you decided to first take what I value most? A member of my family?”

“All deities desire such sacrifices most of all.”

“You know something?” I asked. “What you just said added nothing to my desire to become your adept or priest.”

“But you’re the one who wanted it…” I heard unfeigned surprise in Kera’s voice and seemingly offence.

“Did I?” I frowned and stroked my chin. “I’m not quite sure I remember it the same way…”

“Oh, you little punk!”

I felt the air around us grow denser. For a moment, I thought the goddess’ patience had run out. My pets pressed up against me in fear, all the time remembering to block me with their bodies.

A few seconds later, we were able to breathe normally again.

“It’s my fault,” Kera snorted as if nothing had happened. “I let you wrap me around your finger. I mean, for a mortal, your Will is just too high. Am I to understand you have something to offer me?”

Rubbing my throat and greedily sucking in air, I rasped out:

“You mentioned another way.”

“Yes, I did,” she replied cautiously and, having learned her bitter lesson, fell silent.

“I don’t know why you need worship, sacrifices, altars and temples, but I think I’m starting to guess,” I started.

“Keep going!”

“As you have seen, I have no desire to become an adept or priest of a goddess I have no faith in. But you and I both realize we need each other.”

Kera snorted mockingly.

“A mortal trying to set terms with a goddess? That’s a new one.”

“No, a mortal trying to come to an agreement,” I objected.

“A blood oath?” I heard unfeigned interest in Kera’s voice.

“No oaths,” I shook my head. “Remember? Trust! I have to trust you.”

Kera started hissing in disappointment and, an instant later, it felt like a dusty bag had been clapped down on my head. All sounds and smells disappeared. As did the forest, clearing, and my pets. I imagine it’s the same way a fly feels when a person slams a cup down over it.

Hearing a rustling behind me, I turned sharply. Five steps away from me, I saw a pretty young woman. Her long black hair was up in a neat high style. Her big eyes the color of black rubies were studying my face closely. Her small mouth stretched out slightly into a satisfied smirk. Her bright red lips made for a stark contrast with the pure white velvety skin of her face. I found myself staring unwittingly.

“We don’t have much time,” I heard her purring voice. “The canopy of silence won’t last long. My energy is low.”

I saw flashes of happiness in Kera’s eyes, and it was definitely her. She realized the effect she was producing on me.

“What is it you really want?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. “Adept… Priest… It’s all…”

“First steps,” she interrupted me and walked smoothly toward me.

“Towards what?” I squeezed out.

“I want this world,” Kera replied calmly and lightly tapped my nose with a little pointer finger. Truthfully though, I didn’t actually feel the tap. Probably because she had no physical body.

“I like it here,” the goddess smiled, walking a smooth circle around me. “Furthermore, its long been a dream of mine to have a world to call my own. Will you help me?”

I took a subtle but big breath through my parched mouth. I realized I was on very thin ice, but it was too late to turn back.

“All depends on what I get in return. I have many powerful enemies.”

“As do I,” Kera nodded. “And I’ll need energy to take care of them all. The fastest way is sacrifices, altars and temples. Do you understand?”

“I can’t give you that right now. And as far as I can tell, you cannot force me.”

“That is correct,” the goddess of violent death stated with a smile on her crimson lips. “Let me tell you a little secret: no gods can. Mortals must choose their path freely. It is one of the terms of the pact between the ancient gods. None of us have the power to violate it.”

“Freedom of choice?” I asked in surprise. “Not will?”

Kera laughed.

“Little fool, do you really believe your will can stand up against mine? I won’t hide it, you’ve invested pretty heavily, but yours is nothing compared to the Will of any god.”

“It helps me make decisions,” I objected. “And impacts freedom of choice among other things.”

“Clever boy,” Kera nodded and considered it for a moment before saying: “You know something? I suppose I could meet you halfway. We can play like this for now, then see what it gets us. Destroy the altar of Shkha-Ras and I will give you a reward.”

After saying that, Kera disappeared into thin air. The invisible dome also went away, and I was able to think normally again. My legs gave out and I sat wearily on the ground. All my pets came racing toward me straight away. Coal, too, for the record.

I quickly checked his energy structure and smiled.

“Kid, I’m glad to have you back with us.”

* * *

A few minutes after my conversation with the goddess, when she finally left me alone, I decided to take a pause to think things through and catch my breath. It’s still too early to leave. The spirit had yet to come back from the building. I hope he’s doing alright. No matter… I’m sure he’s up to the task.

Because all creatures in a one-mile radius were gone, no one had bothered us yet. Only the destroyed anomaly’s supply, with nothing to replenish it, sent the odd emanation of hostility rolling over me. It felt like Shkha-Ras was just about to appear in person to punish those who had killed his loyal adepts. But Kera, laughing at my fears, explained that the altar had not yet been activated. And I was supposed to be the big sacrifice to accomplish that.

Ahem… Quite the little job Kera had given me. I had after all been planning to leave the supply behind for the Hunters. I thought Pinebogey could find a way to purge it clean. But the promised reward was more tempting. The prospect of making Kera more powerful concerned me even more, though. I was still balancing between risk and calculation, but who could say how long that would last.

To distract myself from the dark thoughts and settle my nerves, I decided to take a look at the two Iridescents I got for defeating the primordial. I noticed that nothing could calm me down like sorting through loot. Kera had bestowed a spell on me for Crook called Shield of Gloom, while for Black Annis I got Darkness’ Vengeance.

― Shield of Gloom

― Level: 0 (0/30)

― Type: Spell

― Rarity: Legendary

― Description:

― Creates magic shield

― Effect:

― Absorbs 150,000 damage.

― Requirements:

― Intellect – 10

― Expends 5000 mana points

― Note:

― Cooldown time: 12 hours

Looks a lot like Chaos Shield. Just no way to cover allies. The amount of damage absorbed was great, as was the cooldown time.

― Darkness’ Vengeance

― Description:

― One of the most powerful Darkness magic spells, created by Olaf Blackbeard.

― Level: 0 (0/30)

― Type: Offensive/Area of Effect

― Rarity: Legendary

― Magic School: Darkness

― Effect:

— Caster specifies a point and activates a dark hurricane.

― Requirements:

― Intellect – 15.

― Expends 10,000 mana points

― Radius of effect: 300 feet

― Duration: 8 minutes

― Note:

― Cooldown time: 3 days

Gorgie gave a warning snarl, distracting me from reading. I quickly hopped to my feet and got ready to fight, but an instant later calmed down, having noticed a pale opaque silhouette on the approach.

The spirit was finally back.

“Master, I have done as you instructed.” he exclaimed. “They’ll be here soon!”

Chapter 14

WHILE THE PEOPLE that my keeper had warned me about made their way unhurriedly to the middle of the former anomaly, we managed to study all the loot we got in the battle and get a full picture of the wasteland where Foreston had stood just a few months earlier.

Although the amount of loot surpassed even my boldest expectations, the former Order of Hunters capital was in very rough shape.

“Basically, the only thing left of Foreston is its supply,” the spirit said in disappointment after it finished surveying the area. “And even that has been defiled.”

“What about the portals?” I asked with hope.

“The portal to the world where the Steel Crown was once stored has been destroyed. As were those leading to the Hunters’ other fortresses and cities.”

I winced. Not good…

“The darksiders must have not been able to repurpose them,” the spirit theorized. “And to be on the safe side, they destroyed them. Who wants to have the possibility of enemy divisions appearing at the worst possible moment behind their back lines?”

We also hadn’t found any portal scrolls or amulets on Black Annis’ body I could use to get back to my home continent.

“What are we going to do?” the spirit asked. “As far as I can tell, this continent is not a popular destination for sea journeys. How can we reach your continent?”

“I know one way,” I replied contemplatively. “The portal Pinebogey and I took to get here is a few days away.”

“What’s wrong with it? I can sense you don’t like it.”

I ran my hand through my overgrown shock of hair and replied with a sigh:

“It leads to the Labyrinth of Fright… And I had a hard time getting out of it before.”

“Aha,” the spirit drawled out and asked cautiously: “And there’s no other portal?”

I shrugged my shoulders. Maybe there was, but I didn’t know about it.

“Then what are we waiting for?” the spirit asked in surprise. “You defeated the Lady of the Anomaly! Over the last few days, you have slain two thousand unclean beings of various stripes! Coal is alive. I’m still struck by that! You are a great mage, master!”

“How many times do I have to tell you? Don’t call me that. We are a family. And I have a name.”

“I understand, Eric,” the spirit relented. “And yet, what are we waiting for? Is it so important for you to meet those that betrayed you?”

“I need information.”

The spirit fell silent for a while, swallowing all its objections. It’d studied my character enough already. My mind is made up, you’ll have to be patient.

“What do you plan to do to the altar?” it finally asked.

“First, I have to talk to Pinebogey and Murk. Then I’ll decide. Are you sure you sent him my message?”

“I am incapable of disobeying you,” the spirit said with reproach. “As a matter of fact, the Heart of the Forest almost ate me alive. I could hardly move my feet fast enough to get out of there.”

I chuckled.

“If only you had feet…”

“You think this is funny, but it was very serious to me.”

“What did you sense there?” I asked gravely.

The spirit responded in kind, able to tell just what I meant:

“The edges of the forest go far to the east. The Heart of the Forest seems to no longer need the dark portal. I got the impression the lands on this side of Narrow Lake are no longer of interest to the Forest. And I’m surprised the keeper and magister actually agreed to come here.”

“You think they intend to complete the Great System’s mission?” I chuckled.

“I do not,” the spirit snorted. “I’m positive they do! And before it’s too late, I beg you to leave this place.”

“Hrn!” Gorgie declared after coming back.

“It’s too late,” I smiled cleverly to the spirit. “They’re already here.”

The whipsnakes, who had been resting peacefully, got alarmed and readied themselves to slay whoever might dare attack me. I then stood to my full height, swept the black sand off my pants and, folding my hands over my chest, got ready to wait.

My visitors arrived a few minutes after Gorgie came back from scouting. They never could have snuck up on me even if they wanted to. First of all, I had excellent scouts, and secondly all life in a one-mile radius had been wiped out by Judgement of the Abyss. And so, the silhouettes of two figures walking our way I spotted from the distance. Murk and Pinebogey. The magister of the Order of Monster Hunters and the Keeper of the Heart of the Black Forest must have decided to see for themselves how far their former ally and friend had fallen. The person they’d turned against even despite the fact that he tried holding back the necromancers’ onslaught to the last.

The fact they weren’t trying to encircle us was a good sign. I didn’t much believe those two had come without backup. Still, Pinebogey probably had a few dangerous tricks up his sleeve.

With just a hundred paces left between us, I smiled and spread my arms:

“Allow me to welcome you to Foreston! Though honestly nothing is left of it… I must admit, it was my fault. It took you a while to get here but, I see you weren’t in any great hurry to retake it.”

Either because of my derisive tone or the fact that I reeked of Darkness, they both cringed. I quickly examined their faces. Murk was calm as ever, like a block of ice. Pinebogey meanwhile was staring at me angrily through his bushy black brows. If looks could burn, I’d be getting singed straight through.

“I hope you won’t be doing anything stupid.” I said to the keeper of the heart of the forest.

“So, you have accepted her as your patron goddess?” he hissed out in anger and spat on the ground dramatically.

I shrugged my shoulders and tilted my head slightly to one side.

“Correct me if I’m wrong. But it happened after my best friends and allies turned against me, right? Or was it after your beloved Heart of the Forest, which I personally raised and nursed by the way, decided to slay me instead of helping me escape and providing protection? Am I getting that right?”

“Help some darksider freak escape and providing protection?!” Pinebogey exclaimed, foaming at the mouth. Transparent waves of emerald magic kept running over his body.

At first, his ferocity caught me off guard, but I quickly got a grip.

“You know something?” I asked with mockery in my voice. “Before I gave you that seed, you were more normal. What happened to the Pinebogey I used to know? The one who was willing to ink an alliance with Chaos if it meant keeping up the fight against Darkness?”

But alas, the keeper of the black forest just let that go in one ear and out the other. Chomping at the bit, he barked out:

“By bowing down to that snake and accepting her mark, you betrayed us all! There is no place for you here! Get out, vile spawn of Darkness! The only reason you’re still alive is because I swore an oath not to kill you today!”

After shouting out the last part, the woodsman nodded at Murk, then turned and threw out over his shoulder to the foxman:

“It disgusts me to breathe the same air as that cretin. Hurry. We have lots of work to do.”

After saying that, Pinebogey stood up proudly straight and headed back.

But oddly, his words did not offend me. They didn’t even sting. Maybe it was because I had run through this encounter a thousand times in my head and was prepared for the worst. But words… Words are just dust swirling in the air. Having been an outcast my entire life, I was used to being treated like that. As a matter of fact, it made me feel relief. I no longer bore responsibility for either this forest or its keeper. But I did have one question, so I didn’t go anywhere.

“Hey, keeper!” I barked out loudly.

Pinebogey turned around sharply. He was clearly raring for a fight. He had essentially provoked me to attack. And his avatar was just about to do so. Truthfully though, deep down I was confident that if we met in battle right now, the Heart of the Black Forest would have to find itself another keeper.

I only had to make one sudden move and Pinebogey would rush into a fight. Murk was looking so tense. The situation was clearly about to spin out of control. Never fear, tailed one. I am not here to set you up.

“Is he alive?!” I asked loudly. “I know there’s a connection between the Hearts of the Forest. So tell me. Is he alive?!”

The keeper spent a few more moments boring into me with a hateful gaze. He was perfectly aware of who I was asking about. After that, he made up his mind about something, gave a brief nod and turned to keep going.

I sighed with relief. So the necromancers were not able to get to Mee.

After that, I got my stormy emotions under control and glanced at Murk.

“Why are you still here?”

Instead of responding, the foxman threw a small bag at my feet.

“Those are sparks of the otherworld!” the spirit exclaimed in my head cheerily. “A lot! A whole lot!”

“Why help a Dark brute?” I asked, not moving an inch. “What will your new friends and your brethren have to say about that?”

“This is the only way I can thank you for what you’ve done for my clan,” Murk responded calmly, ignoring my question.

“What about the Great System’s mission?”

“I’ll be fine,” the albino snorted. “A thousand points of reputation up, a thousand down. It makes no difference in the long run.”

“You headed east?” I asked.

“We have a responsibility to the families outside the struggle against Darkness,” Murk came. “Our people are on the verge of extinction. The Order of Hunters has been defeated. Other than that, the clan elders believe the foxfolk never should have gotten involved in this war.”

“You agree with them?”

“No,” Murk shook his head. “You need reminding whose slave I was before you arrived? You simply delayed the inevitable. We’re going east, away from Darkness to found a new Foreston.”

“You know anything about Newtown or Brown?” I asked.

“No,” Murk replied. “If they survived, they’re on their own now. Maybe after this is all over, we’ll be able to join up again.”

“There’s something you should know,” I stated. “The Steel King got his crown back.”

I saw the fur on the nape of the foxman’s neck stand on end. But he quickly got himself together and replied coldly:

“This is no longer our war. We will fight only if the darksiders come to us.”

I shook my head. If I didn’t succeed, they’d surely come. But out loud, I said:

“Then I strongly suggest that you get as far away from here as you can.”

Murk nodded and turned around in silence. But like I said… After the albino took a couple steps off after Pinebogey, he stopped short. Turning his head, he said quietly:

“Don’t hold it against them. Onyx was severely injured, and Amber didn’t want to leave her sister behind. When I got the notification about your mark, we were in Heart of the Forest territory…”

“No need to continue,” I stopped him. “I understand. They were saving their own lives.”

Murk nodded. Then added:

“Get out of here as fast as you can. I wrangled you time until sundown. Then, Pinebogey will return to purge the supply. I’d prefer if you didn’t kill him…”

The albino’s lips spread into a smile. There’s the old Murk.

“Tell him not to wait up,” I smiled back. “I need the altar for myself.”

Murk froze and looked me in the eyes with surprise. I then meanwhile took a step toward the crystal and, sucking out ten thousand points of Dark Energy, activated Incineration.

A moment later, black bark covered the crystal, then it collapsed like a sand sculpture.

— Attention! Dark goddess Kera, born of Shadow and Night, gives you her blessing! You have destroyed an altar of her enemy! All negative effects placed on you by servants of her enemy have been removed!

― Take care! Shkha-Ras the Merciless, god of death has set his sights on you!

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (15,000,000)

― Diamond tablet (500)

— Gold tablet (700)

— Silver tablet (2,000)

* * *

“Let’s make camp,” I commanded quietly, and sat down on a wide rock covered in a thick layer of dust. Stretching out my legs with satisfaction, I laid my head down and closed my eyes. We had arrived!

“Is that it?” the spirit asked, flying over to the stone portal arch.

“She said so,” I replied.

We made it to the labyrinth entrance without incident in four days. In that time, we made a big contribution to thinning the ranks of the wandering necromorphs and wraiths. As an aside, with no one telling them what to do, the wraiths had gotten a lot dimmer. On top of it all, they were no longer able to work together. At a certain point, we witnessed three necromorphs attacking a wraith. In other words, the Dark Continent was gradually being overcome by Chaos.

Ugh… Would be a great opportunity for the Order of Hunters to seize on. One second! I’m thinking about something that isn’t relevant to me again. I had chosen another path.

Surprisingly, the Labyrinth of Fright didn’t give me a hard time. I must have spent long enough in it the last time. And now it didn’t want to let me go. Or maybe now it’s all to do with my mark and patron goddess. Kera was always with me, periodically telling me where to go. In the end, it took us three days to find a portal leading to my continent.

“What are we waiting for?”

“For the labyrinth to deign to activate the portal,” I replied. “There’s no other way through.”

“She say where it leads?” the spirit asked.

“No,” I shook my head and frowned.

The anticipation was driving me crazy, too. Kera knew where the portal would lead, but just kept avoiding the answer, joking or skating by with halfway hints.

“She only said we would like her surprise,” I muttered.

Which made the spirit babble out a long speech about treacherous gods and gullible mortals.

I just shrugged my shoulders. Essentially, it was right, but we didn’t have another way out. It was the only way to reach my continent.

“It’s her way of getting revenge for not destroying the altar in her name,” the spirit said pointedly.

“Still, she removed the curse,” I objected.

“That is true…” the spirit muttered. “But she could have spared an Iridescent Tablet at least!”

I paid his grumbling no mind. Plus, he already realized Kera had given me a gift worthy of a king. With the help of the goddess’ magic, I managed to get rid of the Exhaustion Curse Alrak had “rewarded” me with.

Now all my supplies were back up to their previous capacity, while my wisdom and regeneration returned to normal. Ah, if only I could remove the renegade curse, everything would be peachy! But as long as I bear Kera’s mark, that will unfortunately be impossible.

The whole way there, I kept slowly feeding esses and tablets to Coal and Gorgie. Now all my pets had crossed the level sixty-five boundary, and they would only be able to progress using diamond tablets.

I didn’t forget about myself either. The twenty points I got from the two Iridescents I tossed straight into Will. Now it was at six hundred fifty-eight points. I wonder if I’ll get any bonus when my Will hits seven hundred? It was less than fifty away.

I was still in no great rush to activate a temporary growth sphere. I’d just gotten too used to the generous rewards after every fight. Plus, I needed a lot of resources to power up both me and my small personal army.

Strange as it may have been, the spirit agreed with me completely. As a matter of fact, even Kera made a passing remark that I should hold off on levelling.

“It’s opening,” I heard Kera give an acrid whisper in my head and shuddered in surprise.

“Rick!” the spirit exclaimed. “The portal is lighting up!”

I shot to my feet like a spring. I had recalled my pets a whole hour before.

Checking all my spells, I got ready to activate Avatar of Darkness at any second, then filled my lungs with air and stepped off toward the portal arch.

This time, the Labyrinth let me go without issue. Still, I was prepared for something to go wrong at the last second. But it didn’t.

When I found myself in quite a spacious cave, first I thought I was foolish to hope for a quick exit. But then, before my eyes came a notification that I had successfully left the labyrinth and I breathed a sigh of relief. A second later though, my eye was caught by a heavy stone door built into the wall opposite me and a strip of light beneath it. The strip flickered a few times before the heavy door started sliding aside with a horrible screeching sound.

I quickly tossed on my invisibility, reinforced with dark energy, then darted into a far corner of the cave. There, among the wide stone shelves, I hid myself away.

Finally, the door fully disappeared into the stone wall and a gaunt old man wearing a dark robe appeared in the doorway. There was a small magic lamp in his right hand, which the old man turned from side to side, hoping to drive back the darkness to the very farthest corners of the cave.

“Who’s there?” he asked, his voice quavering, then stared half blindly into the darkness.

Odd. I wondered where we were. Based on the old man’s accent, he hailed from Fradia. Was that the promised surprise?

But then I saw the emblem on the old man’s chest, and it hit me. Kera had apparently led me into the Order of Mages’ citadel.

Chapter 15

I MUST HAVE THOUGHT that last part “out loud.”

“What makes you think this is specifically the Order of Mages’ citadel?” the spirit asked with doubt in its voice.

“The portal, the emblem on the old man’s robe…” I shrugged. “An educated guess.”

“Not enough. Just so you know… The old man is no mage.”

The spirit was right. The old man who was trying in vain to spot his intruder had no magic supply. As a matter of fact, despite being level twenty-seven, his parameters more matched those of someone between levels seventeen and twenty. And even that was patchy. When I looked closer, the emblem on his chest was gray. Must have been a servant. After all, not everyone in the Order was a mage. Over the course of its long history, the organization had obtained expansive land holdings dotted with castles, houses and other kinds of structures. And all that had to be looked after. The Order had no choice but to employ a small army of servants. Somehow, I had a hard time imagining mages cleaning stables or toilets.

As an aside… Compared to most people from back home in Orchus, this old man was doing great in both level and stats. In fact, he was far above average. Plus, he had the Order’s emblem on his robe, even though it was the servant variant. And frankly, that made him both important and highly esteemed. But to me, he was no enemy. A mere mortal…

“Who’s there?” the old man asked in a shivering voice and, before I answered, grumbled to himself: “Alarm system’s on the fritz again. How many times have I told them to modify that spell? But they don’t care! They just lounge around in their capital without a care in the world. Meanwhile we have rats running around in packs. Tripping the alarm system. And that’s a waste of energy. It’s why we’re always low on mana.”

When I heard that, I switched to magic vision. Indeed, the cave floor was inlaid with a basic alarm system glimmering with a dull bluish glow. The old man is right. It has very little mana. The supply here is clearly starved. He’s right about the rats, too. Place is crawling with them.

With a peeved sigh, the old man turned and dragged his feet to the cave exit, all the while grumbling something to himself.

“Damned rats… No, Martha is right ― it’s time for rest.”

“Okay, what next?” the spirit asked, puzzled.

I nodded toward the open door.

“After him.”

Slipping off after the old man, I found myself in a wide shadowy corridor. Behind me, the old hinge of the closing door gave a faint squeak.

I took a look around. There were another dozen such doors there. And based on the flickering alarm threads stretching from some of them to a bundle of amulets on the old man’s belt, the rats had really been playing on his nerves today. Maybe we stirred up the little critters by coming. Although, what difference did it make to me? All that mattered was that we made it out of the labyrinth and, seemingly, landed ourselves back on my home continent. All that’s left to do is figure out exactly where.

The Order has many citadels. And the old watchman’s Fradian accent doesn’t count for anything. We could just as well be in Fradia as Taria, or Darta for that matter.

Meanwhile the old man, without suspecting he had a highly dangerous intruder following in his footsteps, kept checking every room we walked past as if nothing was going on.

“Now that’s interesting,” the spirit said sarcastically. “Supposing that decrepit old man really does find someone? What happens then? What will he do? Wag a finger at them for trespassing?”

“Instead of asking questions I don’t know the answer to, better look out,” I said. “And be cautious. You should never underestimate mages.”

The spirit just chuckled and, obeying my order, disappeared through the ceiling. Despite the fact it was gone less than an hour, I regretted sending it out alone a few times. Rationally, I realized that a scout like my spirit keeper, having survived a fallen world, moved freely about an anomaly, and cheated death several times in the warm embrace of a Heart of the Forest, could always find a way out of a difficult situation. But for some reason my heart was pounding. And when the spirit returned, I breathed a sigh of relief.

“You almost guessed it,” it said off hand. “We’re in a suburb of Hedrim. This building is an old portal complex. And that geezer is the watchman. Just so you know, according to records from the local archive, the last time these portals were active was around three hundred years ago. Meaning no mage has shown their face here in ages.”

So, Hedrim… The capital of our Empire. A city-state unto itself. The home of the Emperor’s Palace. And the site of the Order of Mage’s main citadel. Was this Kera’s way of hinting that I was right about Shitang?

“Is there anyone here other than him?” I asked.

“No,” the spirit replied. “He’s alone.”

“Find anything interesting?”

“Just the archive. And it was half decayed. Most of the scrolls are granary records and other reports. There’s also a weak magic supply currently on its last legs.”

“And what about the portals?”

“As I said, they’re inactive,” the spirit replied and picked back up with cheer in its voice: “But I could activate a few of them. One leads to the gnomes. You’d have to share mana.”

My mouth spread into a satisfied smile. Great news. Though it would be nice to know why the mages stopped using them.

I asked the spirit that.

“These portals eat through a lot of energy,” it responded. “And they’re tied to location. The Order of Mages switched over to personal portal amulets a long time ago. They always keep one on their person. They don’t take as much mana. And you don’t have to walk anywhere to get to the city after. Basically, the Order’s craftspeople are constantly perfecting their art. You could use one of those gizmos, actually.”

“And you learned all that from the archive?”
I asked with mistrust in my voice.

“Well, sure… What’s so surprising about that? If only you’d seen those stacks of paper… I’m sure the mages themselves don’t even know what’s in all those scrolls. Ah… If only I could take a tiny peek at their main library.”

“Oh, you’ll get to see it,” I snorted, taking a few steps forward. There was no point in continuing to follow the old watchman. For the record though, he had yet to realize that someone had been following him.

“Where are you planning to go?” the spirit asked cautiously.

“We’re going to the Order of Mages citadel.”

* * *

The spirit was not wrong. We really were in a suburb of the capital of our Empire, where “our great emperor ruled in his infinite wisdom.” Hedrim or, as it was also known, the Emperor’s City, was not subject to any one government. Being in the center of the Empire, it was a city-state in its own right. With its own secret chancery, guard and mint. Hedrim was inhabited by humans and nonhumans alike from all over the Empire. Honestly though, they first had to be given special permission or citizenship, which could cost a pretty penny. The spirit had already filled me in on all that. And for the record, he’d gotten most of it from the Order of Hunters’ library. Some of it lined up with what I’d heard from school or my parents. So, I was more or less already prepared for a visit to the capital.

Hedrim, like the rest of the Empire, was ruled by the emperor. But the word “ruled” wasn’t quite right. He fulfilled a function more akin to that of judge, resolving disputes between the rulers of the states that made up the Empire.

And he issued his “judgements” under the tactful advisement of the Order of Mages. In fact, it was more accurate to call Magister Shitang the true ruler of the Empire, but he had probably fallen on relatively hard times. As a matter of fact, the man who was once among the most powerful and influential figures in the Empire, had been left out in the cold. Now all power was vested in the Steel King.

It took us a few hours to reach the capital from the portal complex. I went the whole way under a Canopy of Invisibility. Honestly, all the precautions proved unnecessary though. There was no one on the old road leading to the watchman’s domain. Clearly not a popular route with locals.

Before turning onto the main road, I took a nice swim in a forest river, washing off the bloody grime of the Dark Continent. The weather was excellent. End of summer. The crystal-clear water brought pleasant refreshment to my whole body.

After my dip, I spent a few minutes lying on the grass basking my face in the morning sun. Birds were chirping around. A slight warm breeze ruffled my badly overgrown hair. Leaves rustled reassuringly on the trees. I savored the safety and calm. After travelling through a fallen world, then the Dark Continent, it was a stark contrast.

I wanted to summon my pets, but I changed my mind. No need to risk it. There was no guarantee we wouldn’t chance upon someone, and witnesses were the last thing I needed.

After getting dried off, I took a clean set of clothes from my ephemeral backpack. I would go onto the main road in scout costume. I decided not to show off my more expensive outfits in public. A noble walking on foot down the main road would surely draw attention. Plus, I could always change clothes in the city if I had to.

It all went as expected. No one paid me any attention on the fairly busy highway as I ducked out of the bushes and blended into a group of hunters hauling the carcass of a huge wild boar.

The hunters, loudly discussing recent events, ignored my arrival and, after I’d thrown a few timely remarks into the conversation, genuinely considered me one of their own. Will really can work wonders. And thus, I came into Hedrim through the northern gates surrounded by new friends.

Once in the city, I bid a warm farewell to the hunters and disappeared into the crowd. I hopped down a blind alley and changed into a different outfit, making me look like the son of a well-to-do merchant. One who’d decided to go on a midday stroll around the central square and have a bite to eat on the terrace of one of the capital city’s finest restaurants.

I didn’t worry about price. I had just over two hundred thousand gold coins in my ephemeral backpack plus around a thousand in small change. The fact that the money belonged to the Order of Hunters did not bother me. As a matter of fact, I was now little concerned with the Order’s affairs. They could figure it out without me. They had decided to cut and run, leaving me essentially alone to stand up against the Steel King. And to top it all off, they called me a traitor…

As for the money… Let’s call it a severance package after being “fired” from my position as supreme manager. I thought I had earned a lot more with my own sweat and blood. Overall, there was nothing eating at my conscience.

An opulently dressed steward greeted me at the restaurant’s front door and inquired how he could help me with a haughty look. Judging by the look on his face, I wasn’t quite presentable enough for the establishment. To top it off, he told me tables in the restaurant had to be booked in advance.

I was not planning on giving up though. I liked the place for its location, cleanliness and, why hide it, the tasty smells wafting out onto the street. The problem was settled quite quickly. All it took to put the steward in a sunnier disposition was five silver coins. Ahem… With bribes like that, I could only imagine the prices. The place had a clientele to match, all nobles and rich merchants.

For an additional fee, the steward sat me on the terrace next to a little fountain and flower bed, then gave me a considerate, well-formulated run-down of the dishes from the menu of the day. Quite the torturous experience, especially on an empty stomach.

After personally taking my order, the steward disappeared into the belly of the restaurant, leaving me alone.

“Run through town and gather up all available information,” I said to the spirit. “I give you exactly one day. I’ll be waiting in the hotel opposite.”

“Understood,” the spirit said and went out to complete his mission.

A few minutes later, a woman wearing a trim dress and white apron was standing next to my table holding a wide platter.

“Your order, sir!” said the server with a coquettish smile, and three dishes of assorted vittles were moved from her platter onto my table. “Bon appetite!”

With a playful wink, she flitted back into the restaurant while I, slightly embarrassed by her flirtation, turned my attention to eating. I forgot about the cute waitress in an instant. The sight of the hot food, its smells and most importantly quantity instantly knocked any unwelcome thoughts out of my head. For the next few minutes, I saw nothing and heard nothing, just enjoyed the feast. And only a little while later, when my stomach was pleasantly full, was I able to think again and go back to watching the central square.

Staring at the care-free passers-by, happily laughing children, and city dwellers sitting on benches with books, I got a funny feeling. As if I were the fifth wheel in the party of life. Since recently, I’d grown so accustomed to the sight of blood, spilled innards, the smell of feces, and dead flesh that clean streets, pure white tablecloths on restaurant tables and the huge number of vibrant flowerbeds seemed like something out of a fairy tale.

But I had also realized I was very tired. The never-ending fights, deaths, intrigues, and global conspiracies were in my bloodstream. In the space of an instant, I felt an urge to join the carefree crowd. To live the normal life of a common city dweller, to whom war with the gnomes, the Dark Continent and even the death of the emperor were distant concerns.

Oh yeah… On the way into Hedrim, the hunters had told me that our “wise and great emperor” had died a month ago. The official story was some unknown ailment. But in the capital, there were various rumors one more preposterous than the next. The most popular story revolved around a hired assassin. Supposedly, it was the gnomish queen’s revenge for the emperor’s refusal to negotiate.

Thus, sitting beneath an awning and lazily sipping cool juice from a glass, I eavesdropped on people’s conversations. I was particularly drawn in by a talk between two portly merchants eating at the table next to me.

“Now tell me, buddy,” one of them said. “What was it these gnomes wanted? Huh? What’s the point of this war? I mean, we were living in peace… But all of a sudden. War! What is it good for, I ask you!”

His black neatly trimmed wedge of a beard jiggled amusingly after each proclamation.

“I do not know, my friend,” he replied, chewing thoughtfully and staring at a fixed point.

His light, slicked back hair with an angled part didn’t look totally natural. As if it were a wig.

“Those pipsqueaks don’t do anything if they don’t stand to profit,” the first said, raising a thick pointer finger instructively. “But what profit do they stand to gain from this conflict? It’s all losses. All their shops, offices and banks throughout the Empire have been closed. Trade is frozen. It’s just stupid… Ugh…”

“What if there is something they’re gaining?” the blond with a mirrored part suggested, squinting. “Maybe there’s something we don’t know.”

“Nonsense,” the black-bearded one waved it off. “I know at the very least ten gnomes who’ve had it up to here with this war. It’s all their reinvigorated queen, coupled with that magister Hunter upstart muddying the waters.”

“No worries… Egbert will put those troublemakers’ brains back in place any second.”

“Agreed,” the black bearded one chuckled. “Let’s have a drink to the future emperor, Egbert the Seventh!”

“Quiet, you!” the blond snapped and looked around cautiously. “Don’t you think you’re getting ahead of yourself?”

The black-bearded one chuckled and proclaimed loudly:

“You still have doubts that the Steel King will become emperor? Who if not him?!”

His outburst was heard at the neighboring tables, and many raised glasses in a sign of agreement.

I just chuckled. They’d sure changed sides quick. The emperor’s body wasn’t even cold yet, and here people were raising toasts to a new ruler. Although, to be honest, the merchant is right. Who if not Egbert the Seventh?

That left me with only one option – to ask Shitang his opinion on the matter…

Chapter 16

THE SPIRIT CAME BACK before I told it to, but only to ask about the latest news and ask for a bit more time to scout. It argued that there was a lot of information and that a day was not enough time. And just as I was headed to the hotel to book a room, I heard its voice in my head. After the staccato report, I gave it another few days to complete the mission, and it disappeared into a crowd that didn’t so much as suspect its existence.

To be frank, I was glad for the delay. I liked Hedrim. As a child, I heard a lot of amazing stories about this city. I pictured it as something like the center of the world, where all the most important events in our Empire took place. And that was essentially true. Here in the Emperor’s Palace or, more accurately, in the Citadel of the Order of Mages, the future was molded and not only that of individual rulers, but that of whole peoples.

Hedrim could easily be called the richest city on the continent, and perhaps in our whole world. All cashflow was routed through local banks regardless of volume. All gold, silver and precious stones had to pass through here. This was where all the biggest deals were inked. Because the Imperial Bank itself acted as guarantor. Yes, merchants paid high taxes and commissions, but there were still a lot of interested parties.

Naturally, any self-respecting aristocratic family, whether from Fradia or Darta, considered it their duty to build themselves a nest in the imperial capital.

Beyond the fact that Hedrim was the wealthiest, most expensive and safest city on the continent, it was also the prettiest city I’d ever seen. Wide clean streets. Not even a hint of shit or slop. A lot of vibrant flowerbeds, neatly trimmed bushes and trees, carved fountains and majestic statues. And for what it’s worth, there’s also Hedrim Central Park with its big lawns, ponds, gazebos and little restaurants.

Hedrim’s people were also different. They were unlike the natives of the capital of Taria or Fradia for instance. Buttoned-down, smiling people, they were never in a hurry or a rush. It was like time slowed down here, flowing according to its own laws.

Despite the fact that all significant events were discussed vigorously, regardless of what corner of the continent they took part in, locals perceived the events as distant, perhaps even taking place in another reality. Or another world…

Even the death of the emperor and new ruler coming to power soon only concerned them up to a point. It was like business as usual. As if the ruling dynasty changed every day. And the people were used to twists and turns like that.

Not to mention the fact that, while walking around the city and watching it go about its day, I felt out of my element. Like I had a dusty sack over my head. All I’d been doing recently was trying to survive. Death, dirt, blood. That’s what I was used to. But here… It was like being in a new world. One without pain or fear.

While taking in the fountains and sculptures, I suddenly considered that Mink would have liked it here. Her and I could take a walk in the park, eat some tasty food, enjoy the sunrises and take in the sunsets together. I could buy us a cozy little house where we could live a happy life together. Together… Upon recalling my beloved, I breathed a heavy sigh and habitually squeezed the little figurine of a lithe forest creature she’d given me as a parting gift.

I felt a sting in my chest. And it was so angry I had a hard time breathing. Beleaguered, I looked for somewhere to sit down. I saw an empty gazebo hidden beneath the dense branches of a weeping willow hanging low over the water. On rigid legs, I made it to the little shelter and fell back on a bench. The willow leaves on flexible branches seemed to sense my state and rustled reassuringly. I covered my red-hot face with my hands and sat still for a moment, trying to come to my senses.

“Kid, you doing alright?” I heard a man’s voice.

But it didn’t surprise me. I’d spotted the man walking in a calm, measured gait a minute before. My odd behavior must have drawn his attention, and he decided to come lend a hand.

Not looking away and lightly massaging my temples with the tips of my fingers, I replied calmly:

“Everything’s fine… Thank you… I just felt tired all of a sudden, so I came over here to sit down and take a break.”

“Shall I summon a healer?” the man asked. By his voice, I pegged him as forty-years-old at most. Beyond that, I could hear his footsteps. He had a light, bouncy gait. Overall, this was a man at peak performance.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said softly. But in reality, I was bothered by all the attention. I also couldn’t sense any notes of true worry in the man’s voice. Most likely, it was just basic kindness. “Thank you again.”

I thought that would be enough for him to leave me alone, but the man was taking his sweet time. I heard him breathing measuredly, then felt him looking at me closer.

With slight annoyance in my voice, I added:

“I’m already feeling a lot better, thank you.”

I did not want to look the stranger in the eyes. And I didn’t give a damn what he thought about my manners. I’m no fan of nosy types. And on top of that, I can sense that he doesn’t care. I mean really, what brought him over to me? He could have just walked past.

I heard a quiet giggling, followed by a question:

“How do you find Hedrim, Mister Supreme Magister?”

I looked up suddenly, and we met eyes. All my sadness and malaise just flew away like it had never been there. I got prepared to attack and defend myself.

“Woah!” the man exclaimed in surprise and raised his hands. “It appears my intelligence is out of date. Have you switched sides? And please, Mister Bergman, do not worry. I am not planning to attack you.”

I took a short step back in silence and, activating magic vision, looked at the lakeshore. Nothing.

“Don’t worry,” the man repeated, lowering his hands. “I am alone. I just want to talk. Some wine?”

After asking that, a small crystal decanter filled with crimson liquid appeared in the man’s hands along with two glasses.

I squinted and bored into the stranger with a scrutinizing gaze. Hm… Hides his level. Magic supply. Can’t see capacity. Or parameters. This guy means business. He looks to be around forty at most. Black hair. A foppish little beard. Manicured nails. An expensive dark-blue-shaded suit. Can’t see any Order of Mages emblems, but I don’t need them. I can already tell who’s in front of me.

“I don’t drink,” I responded calmly, watching the capital-city dandy deftly pouring wine into both glasses. “Especially with strangers.”

The man gasped again. With a light clap of his right-hand fingers on his forehead and a short nod, he introduced himself:

“Supreme Magister of the Order of Mages Shitang at your service!”

When he saw my face stretch out in surprise, joy flickered by in his blue eyes.

“I take it you pictured me completely different. Am I getting this right, Mister Bergman?”

“I’ll be honest with you,” I nodded. “You’re completely right.”

I could tell Shitang was not going to attack. He must want to sate his curiosity before deciding what to do with me. I knew he would find out about my visit sooner or later, but this reaction was quicker than expected.

The magister pointed at the bench in the gazebo with a silent smile, offering me a seat, and asked:

“Admit it, Mister Bergman, you pictured me as a wicked cantankerous old man, didn’t you?!”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Partly.”

Shitang broke down laughing. And only then did I notice that he was not drunk, just full of cheer. Hm… Curious… Is he trying to throw me off? Ahem… Doesn’t really look like it.

“Well, I have lived a long life,” Shitang said, drying tears. “But that’s no reason for a mage of my level to let himself go. I trust you understand me.”

“Completely,” I shrugged again.

“Enough then,” the mage waved his manicured hand. “You are young and full of strength. You still have your whole life ahead of you. Why concern yourself with our old men’s problems?”

To say I was thrown off would be an understatement. Shitang’s behavior crossed every boundary. It wasn’t quite the way I imagined meeting one of the most powerful beings in this world.

“By the way, you still haven’t answered my question!” Shitang was not going to cede the initiative. “How do you like Hedrim?”

“It’s pretty,” I responded sincerely. “I really like it here. It’s cozy and clean.”

“Oh!” Shitang smiled. “As a native of Hedrim, that’s nice to hear. No chance you’d wanna settle down here? A few of the mansions in the upper city just so happen to have freed up recently. I’m sure you are a man of great wealth and can afford any indulgence. Or are you just passing through?”

I chuckled. Shitang is hedging his bets. He must have already figured out who put the mark on me. If someone had told me a year ago that the supreme magister of the Order of Mages would be carefully choosing his words in a gazebo with some zero, I’d have never believed it. And by the way, I knew whose homes had been freed up in the upper city. Competitors that rose up against the supreme magister’s rule.

And he is alarmed. Tension and even fear are slipping through his mask of good cheer. It’s hard to hide stuff like that from me now thanks to my Will.

“Just passing through,” I nodded. “I came here to see somebody.”

“Curious,” Shitang said, taking a little sip from his wine glass. “I’d like to ask a question if I could. Just who might that be?”

I picked up the elegant glass by its thin stem and swirled its contents around. The dark ruby nectar, coating the crystal walls lightly, sent up an aromatic floral scent. It was probably very expensive.

“Hm…” I considered it showily. “There’s a lot I can say about them.”

“Is that so?” Shitang decided to play along. “You’ve caught my interest. I’d be happy to listen.”

“As you like,” I nodded and set the glass on the table. “As I mentioned, a lot can be said about this person. He is cruel, dangerous and does not tolerate competition, but despite all that he is smart and can be constructive. It takes just one glance at this amazing city to see that. Because it is his brainchild.”

“Oh!” Shitang threw his arms up, staring me fixedly in the eyes. “I think I know who you’re talking about!”

“Who?”

“The emperor, of course!” the magister called out falsely, and added with an air of sadness: “But unfortunately, you’re too late… Our great and wise emperor has left us.”

After saying that, Shitang drank down his whole glass in one swig and reached for the decanter.

“I’m positive our emperor is deserving of all your praise, but I was not referring to him,” I shook my head. “I was talking about someone else. And by the way, what happened to his Imperial Majesty?”

“Do you really not know?” the magister feigned surprise and tossed back another glass, which he then refilled immediately. “Our unfortunate emperor was taken from us by an unknown ailment.”

Shitang again slammed the contents of his glass. I looked at him with incomprehension. This man was not play acting. But I still considered it unlikely he was particularly grieving the dolt we all referred to as emperor. The issue here was something else.

“Unknown ailment?” I asked.

The magister glanced at me darkly. For a moment, the real Shitang was staring back at me. Cruel and merciless.

I just stared back. My Will is my armor. I’m not the kind of person you should mess with, old man.

Having clearly made up his mind about something, Shitang replied quietly:

“He died a torturous death. He didn’t deserve it.”

I was surprised. But didn’t show it. Was I really wrong about the magister? Was he really feeling bad for his puppet? The Great System’s ways are truly unknowable.

I shrugged my shoulders and quietly stated:

“Were you really expecting anything different out of them?”

The magister exhaled loudly and stared unblinking toward the pond.

“Why are you here?” he asked seriously.

The jig was up, he was done joking.

“At the very least, I need information,” I replied in kind.

“And at most?” his thin little brow arched.

“An ally.”

“And you thought I would make an alliance with you?” Shitang gave a slight chuckle.

But he didn’t ask why I needed an ally. He knew perfectly well who I was fighting against.

“Well, why not?” I replied, sitting back in the bench and stretching my legs. “On top of everything else, you realize your days as supreme magister are numbered. And after that…”

“What?” grasping at what I said like a straw, he asked. I chuckled to myself. I mean, he knows how this will all end, but wants to hear it from my mouth. He is clearly not used to having people tell him the truth. Well, want to hear it? Listen up.

“After that, the Steel King will get rid of you sooner or later,” I replied. “Not now. Now Egbert needs you. Too many threads lead back to you. After all, that’s why people in the Empire call you the Spider, is it not?”

Shitang shuddered, then a ravenous smile appeared on his face. He must know about that nickname. Although, what am I talking about? Of course he knows. And it looks like he likes it.

“And whatever you might think, you don’t stand a single chance of surviving,” I finished, while Shitang stopped smiling.

“You think you’re the only one who can offer me an alliance?”

“Of course not,” I replied unflappably. “But who were you planning to fight against Alrak with? My homeland of Taria? Darta? Maybe the elves? Good one. None of them will dare to so much as look askance at the new emperor, much less defy him.”

Shitang shuddered and cringed. He didn’t like me calling Egbert “emperor.” He really did not.

But inside, I was rubbing my hands together. With Shitang, everything was exactly the way I thought. Kera also had not sent me here for no reason. It made me wonder what kind of game she had cooked up.

“Let me continue,” I went. “It didn’t occur to you until it was too late. You should have taken down Egbert before. You craved more power. You insisted on marrying your son to Ironskin’s daughter. You insulted the king of Taria.”

Shitang glanced at me with surprise. And I suddenly realized I had said something wrong.

“What are you talking about?” Shitang frowned. “I never wanted that marriage!”

“But what about the rumors…?” I came, puzzled.

“Have you really not figured out who started them?” Shitang looked at me again like a fool.

“One second… Are you saying that the rumor about you wanting to marry your son to Egbert’s daughter…?”

“Now you’re getting it,” Shitang snorted, staring back toward the pond. “Egbert wanted to turn public opinion against me.”

“Now I’m lost,” I shook my head. “But the engagement with the Prince of Taria was ended. Then your son’s wedding to the Princess of Fradia was announced.”

“Yes,” Shitang nodded. “But that was later, influenced by new circumstances. And it wasn’t my idea, it was Egbert’s. He needed an alliance with the Order. You need me to tell you who against?”

“Gallia and the Order of Hunters,” I whispered. “But it still doesn’t come together. Why was the second engagement also ended?”

“And why would a king and future emperor give up his daughter’s hand in marriage to a servant?”

Shitang had just almost copied Litzia word for word.

“What about the alliance?” I asked.

“You don’t make alliances with servants,” Shitang said coldly and spat on the ground. “Servants are told what to do, and they obey.”

“Since when has the great Order of Mages and its supreme magister been relegated to the role of servant to the Steel King?” I asked.

Shitang stared into my eyes, searching for a hint of mockery. Then he replied by almost fully repeating the second half of my question:

“The great Order of Mages and its supreme magister was relegated to the role of servant to the Steel King ever since some unknown kid brought a Heart of the Forest into our world from gods know where. And not just one, a whole three! The balance was annihilated. One side of the goddess Balance’s Great Scales must have tilted a bit too far in one direction. And that was when the Steel King was forced to make a move out of desperation. He violated a rule set by his great forebearer and summoned Alrak the Heartless into this world, who had sworn a blood oath to serve the first Ironskin and all his male-line descendants!”

Chapter 17

I LAUGHED and shook my head. Shitang looked at me, furrowing his brows. Must not have been the reaction he was expecting.

“Did I say something funny?” he inquired, slightly peeved.

“Partly,” I replied, still smiling.

“Explain.”

“Happy to,” I nodded. “The thing is you are not the first person to try to use me as a scapegoat for your own wrongdoing and miscalculation. The Great Scales! The goddess Balance! Are you kidding me? Hehe… You should hear yourself, Mister Supreme Magister. So much bombast! So much melodrama!”

Shitang bored into me with an angry look.

“Well, well, Mister Supreme Magister,” I raised my hands mockingly, copying his gesture precisely. “Don’t get mad. I admit, I ruined your plans. But the gods will see I was just trying to survive. You meanwhile were so confident in your greatness and power that you made a blunder. You moved too slow in situations that required lightning-fast action. You pushed hard where you should have used a light touch. And you ended up on the sidelines.”

After that, pointing around at the park and pond, I continued:

“Very soon, all that you created will be destroyed. All these flowerbeds, statues and gazebos will stand in ruins. After the hordes of undead come ravaging through, little will remain here.”

Shitang clenched his fists. For the first time in our conversation, I suddenly realized how old the man really was. If he even was a man…

“Egbert would be happy to have your head,” the magister hissed, all his false amicability gone in a second. “Tell me even one reason not to kill you right now.”

“Well, first of all, I will not surrender without a fight,” I replied calmly, also dropping the pretense. Why should I keep it up, if he wouldn’t? “Don’t get caught up on my level. Everyone who has ever threatened me is dead. But I, as you see, am sitting here calmly and talking to you.”

“Your new patron goddess?” Shitang’s lips twisted in scorn. But in his eyes, I saw a flicker of fear. Such powerful emotions could not be hidden from my Will.

“That’s part of it,” I confirmed with a nod.

“You’ll regret linking up with her,” Shitang came unexpectedly, his temple twitching.

“That’s for me to decide.”

The magister shook his head, then asked with mockery in his voice:

“What’s the other part?”

“The other part is that you need me. As a matter of fact, I am your only hope of regaining your previous position. Or rather, I am your final attempt to do so.”

“A rather middling hope,” Shitang waved a hand.

“Well, you get what you get…” I shrugged and looked around. “Somehow I didn’t see throngs of hopefuls willing to fight the Steel King to save your hide. By the way, your city dwellers basically think of him as emperor already. And they’re eagerly awaiting his triumphant return to the capital. I’ve heard all kinds of things here.”

Shitang sniffled angrily but kept his composure. He didn’t like hearing the truth. I realized I was playing with fire, but I could sense I was on the right track.

“So then,” I continued hammering it home. “You know what they want most of all? They are desperate to see Egbert throw you and your Order out of the capital. Because your entire organization is rotten to the core with corruption and greed. I don’t know whether it was your plan, or you simply didn’t notice, but the Order of Mages has turned into a collection of bush league magicians and bribe collectors. Recently, you suppressed an uprising by a couple magisters. But that’s just the beginning. If you don’t get killed by Egbert, your very brethren will do it first.”

Shitang looked like an ice statue. But in my bones, I could feel the storm raging in his heart. I realized I was walking on thin ice and that at any moment, the magister could attack.

“Are you so sure you can defeat them?” he asked, underlining every word. “You’ve already tried once.”

“I didn’t know Alrak’s true power.”

“You think you do now?”

“No,” I answered honestly. “That’s why I’m here.”

The magister fell silent, then asked:

“Why go to all this trouble? After all, you could just take a portal to a closed world. Because I know you are a wanderer.”

“That’s my business,” I threw out. “All I can say is that I do not want my home world to be turned into a desolate wasteland flooded with wandering necromorphs and wraiths.”

“What makes you so sure I do not want to turn this world into a kingdom of Darkness?”

“You’ve been living on this land so long,” I replied, tilting my head to one side. “If you wanted to do that, you’d have tried by now. You had the resources and knowledge.”

“Here’s the thing,” Shitang gave an old man’s snort, which made for a stark contrast with his appearance. “I cannot be your ally.”

I nodded. I was expecting to hear something like that. Shitang, like the old politician and schemer he was, was trying to get someone else to pull his chestnuts out of the fire.

“But I can share information,” he said and the tension between us dissipated. “What would you like to know?”

“Does Egbert have the crown?” I asked quickly.

“Yes,” he nodded in surprise. “I thought you knew.”

“I did, but I had to make sure,” I responded and kept asking: “What are Egbert’s true goals? What is Alrak’s role in their alliance?”

Shitang stroked his neatly trimmed goatee. After that, he took a little sip from the glass and replied:

“Egbert wants absolute power. That’s why he wanted the crown. But it isn’t all that simple. The crown is a divine artifact. The only one in our world. A gift from Erebus god of shadows to the first Ironskin. It has to be activated. And that takes a lot of energy. A huge amount.”

I glanced coldly at the magister.

“I see you’ve already realized where Egbert is planning to activate it.” Shitang said.

“The Forge of the True Flame…” I came quietly.

“It is the only supply capable of filling the artifact with power,” the magister said and added: “Honestly though, I have heard that it doesn’t have all that much energy right now. Gramner kept it off for a very long time. So most likely the Crown will drain it dry.”

Taking another sip from the glass, Shitang continued:

“As for Alrak, the lich is in service to Egbert. Is that all?”

“Hm…” I stroked my chin thoughtfully.

Shitang smirked.

“Is that really all that brought you into the very lair of Shitang the Spider?”

Unable to bear his passing cheer, I said thoughtfully:

“It isn’t coming together.”

“What isn’t coming together?” the magister’s brow arched.

“What you’re saying about Alrak and Egbert.”

“How so?”

“Does the Steel King serve Shkha-Ras?” I asked, and Shitang shuddered. His cheeks turned white.

“What makes you think that?” Shitang asked in a smarmy tone. He now looked like a predator about to pounce.

“Because I saw his altar in the anomaly that formed on the site of Foreston.”

Shitang jumped out of his chair and threw his glass into the bushes. I could see that he was not about to attack me. He was just very worked up. For a moment, he froze, staring at a fixed point. Then he cursed out filthily.

“That bastard was running his own game!”

“Do you mean Alrak?”

“Yes!” Shitang sighed and, arms crossed behind his back, began pacing the gazebo in a quick step, grumbling to himself all the while.

“Egbert worships the god of Shadows!” he started to explain. “And as far as I know, he was not planning to summon him to our world… Secretive bastard!”

I felt like he was talking about Alrak.

“That’s it!” Shitang kept talking to himself. “Because he’s a lich! He decided to give up his body for the incarnation ritual!”

“Incarnation ritual?” I asked.

“Yes,” Shitang answered, still pacing the gazebo from end to end. “The gods have to acquire mortal form in a physical body to obtain greater power in any world. As you understand, it’s preferable for that human shell to be sturdy and very strong. History tells us that Shkha-Ras most prefers taking mortal form as a lich. Can you imagine what will become of this world when the god of Death himself comes to dwell within Alrak’s body?!”

I gulped. The hair on my head stood on end.

“Who is defending the anomaly?” Shitang asked in a decisive tone. I had seemingly guessed right about that. The magister was clearly ready for action.

And I don’t blame him. Whereas he had a certain chance of reaching an agreement with Egbert – by swearing a blood oath for instance – the same trick would not work on the god of necromancers. This was not politics anymore. It had become a question of survival.

For the record, I had also realized as much. And although the altar was no more, still something was bothering me. I got the sense that I had been assigned a particular role in the ancient lich’s game. Otherwise, why let me go? And I no longer had any doubts that I had been let go.

I wasn’t going to tell Shitang my thoughts, though. I couldn’t say how he might react. Maybe in light of new circumstances, he really would try to attack. Fighting an opponent like him could end in tears for me. Still, when I came here, I didn’t believe the magister would be in the mood for a conflict. And that was despite the centuries of hostility between the Orders. Shitang is a crafty politician. He tries to squeeze every situation for as much as he can. My conflict with Egbert was only to his advantage.

“The anomaly and altar were being defended by Black Annis and Crook,” I replied, watching the magister’s reaction closely.

He froze for an instant, then lurched forward.

“Were? Are you saying the anomaly is no more? What became of the altar?”

I silently smirked back. Shitang’s face lit up for an instant, but then his brows knitted over the bridge of his nose.

“Did you feed her to the altar?” he asked quietly, nodding at my mark.

There was an icy quality to his voice.

“No,” I answered shortly.

We met eyes. The supreme magister seemed to be trying to gaze into my soul. To find out what I intended to do next. Was it even worth helping me? What if the ancient goddess already had me in her thrall?

Then his lips spread into a smile. Seemingly, he had seen something in my eyes. And now knew everything…

Shaking his head like he’d just woken up, Shitang swept a hand, and the decanter and my wine glass disappeared into thin air.

“I have no more to say to you,” he stated and went to leave the gazebo. Just before walking down the stairs, he stopped and threw out over his shoulder: “And by the way, Mister Bergman, if you want your visit here to remain a secret, I strongly suggest you leave Hedrim at once. The city is teeming with the Steel King’s spooks and spies. You’re lucky I uncovered you first and did my best to keep you hidden. From now on, you’re on your own.”

“I understand, Mister Supreme Magister.”

* * *

I left the city in a hurry, using invisibility. I decided not to risk it.

The spirit was supposed to wait for me next to the portal complex, if it didn’t find me in the hotel. I had to exercise my patience. I hoped it was at least able to find more information than me.

The spirit appeared after three days. And right away, asked:

“Why are you here, not in the hotel?”

“After we parted ways, I had a run-in with Shitang,” I replied. “After our talk, he suggested I leave the city.”

“Find out what he wants?”

“Egbert needs the magic supply under the gnomish capital to activate his crown.”

“The Forge of the True Flame,” the spirit said pensively. “That explains a lot.”

“He also got very worked up when I told him about the necromancer god’s altar. Shitang believes Alrak is up to something.”

“I told you so!” the spirit exclaimed triumphantly, then asked: “What do you say we run far away before it’s too late? I’m just not feeling this…”

I chuckled. Classic.

“How’d it go for you?” I changed the topic.

“If I had a head, it would be bursting right now,” the spirit chuckled. “I have learned a lot about your Empire.”

“Anything in particular?” I asked.

“I made it into the Order of Mages library!” the spirit said proudly. “I did have to shell out for it, though.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, stumbling.

“I had to pay a bribe to the keeper spirit of the Order of Mages citadel.”

“What?!”

“Did you think you were the only person with a keeper spirit?” he chuckled. “There is a very ancient keeper spirit residing in the citadel. Very powerful. And very lonely…”

I scratched the back of my head. Actually, good point. The Citadel of Chaos also had a spirit. The Hearts of the Forest practically ate it whole.

“How’d you pay?” I inquired.

“Sparks of the Otherworld…” the spirit replied quietly. “I had to give up five thousand of them.”

“How many?” I exclaimed indignantly.

“It’s a very good price,” the spirit muttered. “I haggled for a long time.”

Five thousand sparks! I shook my head, crushed. That was almost half of what Murk gave me.

“I hope it was worth it.”

“I found a treatise by Magister Timps,” the spirit quickly responded and fell silent.

I frowned.

“And?” I asked, not comprehending. “What treatise?”

“On the Properties of Things,” came a reply that only left me more confused. “We were looking for it. Remember?”

“What do you mean…?” I started in annoyance, but quickly cut myself off. “One sec… The same one mentioned in Kera’s mission?”

My eyes lit up.

“What does it say?!”

“I don’t know.” If the spirit had shoulders, it would have shrugged them. “The treatise is written in some ancient tongue. Your Mind score is too low for me to read it.”

I spat angrily. Why make things so difficult? Couldn’t she have told us? As soon as I considered that, a giggle sounded out over my ear. Got it. She’s playing a trick on me.

“Okay,” I waved a hand. “We’ve gotta go. We’ve been sitting around here long enough.”

“Where to now?” the spirit asked angrily, then added: “Actually no. You don’t have to answer. I’ll tell you. To the gnomes. Right?”

I nodded, confirming his guesses and stepped off toward the portal complex.

* * *

The warp went okay. Honestly, it did come at a cost of ten thousand mana, but it was worth it. Without the portal, it would have taken us a month at least to reach the kingdom of the gnomes. First by sea, then through elvish territory. Overall, it wouldn’t have been a very pleasant journey. I’d have had to walk over dead bodies. Literally. We would not have been let simply pass.

As an aside, the spirit had found out details on the travel amulets. They could only be acquired from the Order of Mages arsenal and required quite a high reputation and rank of junior prior or above. It was basically the way things worked in the Order of Monster Hunters.

Too bad. I’d already started dreaming. An amulet like that could come in handy.

The portal brought me to a wide viewing platform up on the tip top of a mountain. I took a look around. I could tell right away the place was long since abandoned. If anyone ever came here, it was only animals. All around, no matter where I looked, there were towering gray cliffs. I wonder what part of the gnomish kingdom I’m in?

After the moldering halls of the portal complex with their rat-dropping stench, the crisp mountain air left me feeling invigorated and fresh. I took a deep breath and looked up. Pure white clouds filled the sky, looking like wads of cotton. The sun gave off a pleasant warmth.

After activating the summoning amulets, I sent Gorgie out on a mission to figure out where we were. If possible, of course.

The harn returned a few hours later to say he recognized the area. He’d even discovered old marks of his. We were four days’ travel from Mountainguard, Brown’s domain.

Without too much consideration, I decided to head straight out toward the fortress. Logically, I could see that I most likely would not find anyone there, but my heart throbbed insistently, leaving me no choice but to hope for the best.

Ah… I never should have considered rational conclusions. Four days later, we reached Mountainguard. Or rather, its former location.

Having been carved from the tip of the mountain it stood upon, it once looked monolithic. But now, all I could see in the fort’s former location was a massive crater. Black. With fire-sculpted edges and gloomy stone guts.

A dismal sight. The castle must have held out to the last and feasted on the blood of its attackers. But then some enemy mage decided to waste no more time and brought something very destructive and deadly crashing down on the heads of the defenders. I really hope Brown had enough presence of mind not to die like a hero. And to warp the garrison out to Newtown.

An upwelling of magic behind me distracted me from my survey. I took a heavy sigh. I recognized the magical emanations. Only one being could get around like that. I turned.

“So, you have returned,” the kobold matriarch rasped out. “I hope you have not forgotten your promise.”

Chapter 18

THE KOBOLD MATRIARCH had barely changed. An angular body covered in wiry fur, and chalk-white skin. Long hair twisted into thick braids. Two bony growths where eyes should have been. Her level had come up a bit. She was now eighty-seven.

“Yes, I have returned.” I said. And added with pity: “Shame I’m too late.”

“Such was the gods’ will,” the old woman rasped.

I took a heavy sigh and turned my head toward the huge black crater where the hunter castle once stood.

“You needn’t worry about them,” the matriarch said, clearly having guessed my feelings.

I turned sharply. My heart started beating faster.

“Are they alive?” I asked quickly.

“Last I saw them, all your brethren were alive and well.”

“Have they joined forces with the gnomes?”

“No,” the old woman shook her head. “The big fox you left in charge of the castle proved quite perspicacious and cautious.”

I smiled. Brown. That’s just his style. The spirit would like him.

“Not waiting around for the necromancers to show up, he got together everything of value in the castle and took it through the portal with the other foxes. Just so you know, he also took the supply.”

If Brown isn’t on the Dark Continent, he must be in Newtown and most likely with Mee. That’s good. The more warriors like Brown my little brother has with him the better. Reassuring. I meanwhile didn’t believe Mee would turn against me. He would be more likely to leave the heart of the forest than call me an enemy. And Murk also indicated he did not intend to complete the system’s mission.

“Was Alrak here?” I asked. “Is the castle his doing?”

“Yes,” the old woman said darkly. “The ancient lich has returned to our world and that has me very afraid. But you promised to protect us.”

I first opened my mouth to make excuses, but the old woman interrupted:

“Silence, boy. Taking on that brute would be biting off more than you can chew. Even the Order and your gnome girlfriend were no match for him.” Then the old woman nodded at my hand and said: “Especially given you’re no longer a magister, or even a hunter. I assume your former brethren expelled you?” The matriarch laughed and added: “I wouldn’t be surprised to hear they’d even declared a manhunt.”

“Yeah, them and half the continent…” I said quietly.

“Oh yeah!” the old woman laughed. “You are now also an enemy of the Great Forest.”

“You are the only one not to have recalled your amulet,” I said, staring the matriarch point blank in the face. “After I stopped being a hunter, the system annulled all our agreements. Stonetown is closed to you. I cannot give you or your tribe a new home. Why didn’t you turn against me? Or were you waiting for me to get your revenge? After all, it was my fault your children perished that day when you tried to storm the castle.”

The old woman listened to my monologue in silence. Not so much as a single tendon on her ghastly face twitched.

“If you want revenge, have at me.” I spread my arms and continued in an icy voice: “But you should know that if you do decide to attack me, you will most likely die along with all your children. I will be ruthless. No mercy. Not because I want you to die. No. I simply must live in order to defeat my enemies!”

I stopped. Lu-Moa, Mother of the Stoneheart Brood also said nothing.

Her only reaction was complete calm. I also suddenly realized that, over the course of our whole conversation, I didn’t ever sense a hostile attitude. Lu-Moa had come alone. Without her horde.

“So then, your decision?” I asked the old woman, still standing opposite me.

“I am not here to get revenge,” she stated calmly. “And I care not for Stonetown. I must admit, I never liked the idea of resettling under the wing of the Order of Hunters. You stood to gain more than us. That agreement put us in an uncomfortable position. Much like our former arrangement with the gnomes.”

Curious. What a reveal. That surprised me.

“I know what you’re about to ask,” she stopped me. “Yes, I agreed to your conditions. It was a conscious choice. But we would have partially lost our freedom. To live on Order lands, we would have had to help you search for ore and gemstones. As I said before, so it once was with the gnomes. That so-called friendship ended in centuries of hostility. For some reason, the gnomes considered the kobolds their slaves, bound to obey.”

I didn’t say I had heard a somewhat different story. In light of recent events, I had realized a simple truth ― every people and ruler writes history however it suits them.

The matriarch continued:

“I have said many times ― while my kind grew weak, our enemies on the contrary gained power. War with the gnomes wiped out my brood. Now they have bigger concerns, but we will lose our lands very soon. Because another enemy will come to take the gnomes’ place. Someone strong and ruthless.”

“The necromancers,” I nodded. “The Dark Continent is crawling with undead. Very soon, these lands will get their turn. Within a year, many peoples of this continent will cease to exist. The Order of Hunters will be gutted and disbanded. The Great Forest will opt to mount an all-out defense. The only holdouts will be the gnomes.”

The matriarch sighed sadly. And that sigh was tinged with pain and disappointment.

“I assume the Darksiders need a supply,” she came shortly. “The one being guarded by the renegade patriarch.”

She must have been referring to Gramner. I noticed that the matriarch did not speak of the Fourarmed blacksmith with distaste, even though she called him a renegade. Curious… Food for thought.

“Yes,” I answered. “The Steel King wants to activate a divine artifact.”

The old woman breathed a heavy sigh.

“It’s all much worse than I thought. This world is changing, and it appears there is no more room for the kobolds in it.”

“There’s always a way out,” I said firmly, squinting and added: “And I bet you already have a plan. And you cannot complete it without my help. Am I right?!”

“Yes,” she started with a creaky voice. “I was waiting for you. But not to get revenge. The fact you have returned says a lot. For example, about your honor and commitment to your word. In many centuries, you are the only mortal to offer me protection. Although it was in return for a service, and although you were unable to uphold your promise, you’re here now. You came. And you’re not afraid. You are not broken. You even became much stronger. You proved yourself worthy of my friendship. Because of that, I suggest we make a new pact.”

To say that the old woman had caught me off guard would be an understatement. I stood with my mouth cracked open in surprise, digesting what I’d heard. After all, just a minute before, I was ready to slam the matriarch with a spell powered up with plenty of dark energy.

“I swore off oaths a while ago,” I finally squeezed out.

“I don’t care about oaths,” Lu-Moa waved it off.

She sounded sincere. I could sense that thanks to my Will. But there was still a niggling doubt…

“I don’t get it… What need does the Mother of the Stoneheart Brood have for an outcast and renegade who no longer holds sway in the Order of Hunters?”

I looked around at the cliffs, trying to spot hidden enemies. A thought suddenly came to mind… Might the old woman have been in communication with the Darksiders? Why not? In fact, it sounded very plausible. In exchange for a tuft of land and immunity, the old woman would catch all of Egbert’s enemies that came to her lands. Plus, kobolds could always be used in mines to search for valuable minerals.

And now a big fat fish had jumped right into her net.

“Your voice has changed,” Lu-Moa rasped. “What happened?”

“It suddenly occurred to me that you could make a pact with my enemies the same way you did with me.”

I said that slowly, savoring every word. Watching the old woman’s face all the time. I just had to not push too hard.

The matriarch spent a little while in silence. Then with a broad smile, she revealed a row of sharp teeth.

“A fair note,” she nodded. “I won’t lie. And were it anyone other than Darksiders, I’d definitely have tried. But you said it right. Soon, this continent will be flooded with hordes of necromorphs. And as you realize, it’s hard to make alliances with them. Impossible, in fact. And when it comes to the Steel King… He will become paramount ruler of this world. He probably isn’t too concerned about us poor kobolds…”

“I really wish I could believe you,” I said. “Yes, I have your amulet. But that is nothing more than an artifact I can use to summon you. It is not a sign of friendship between us.”

“Yes, you are right,” Lu-Moa nodded. “My friendship is something you have yet to earn.”

“And vice versa,” I answered in kind.

What the old woman said made me feel two different ways. On the one hand, her tone put me slightly on guard. But on the other hand, I did not blame her. It was just a game. We used to talk differently. But now it felt like a good-natured verbal tussle between friends.

“When it comes to my temporary arrangements with the necromancers,” she chuckled. “Of the two of us, only one bears a Dark mark – you.”

“You got me there,” I chuckled and started thinking aloud: “Let’s say neither of us made any arrangements with Dark beings. You think we’ll be able to trust each other with no oaths?”

“Why not?” the old woman shrugged her shoulders almost like a human. “I’m sure your Mind is high enough to see that the necromancers and I are not on the same path. And I need you. I admit that. And say so openly. Beyond that, as head of the Order, you proved that you do not intend to have hostile relations with my brood.”

“Why do you need me?” I asked directly.

“You’re special,” the matriarch replied. “I need your abilities as a descendent of the ancients. Beyond that, for a certain while, you’ve had a few other particular abilities.”

I got on guard.

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, for instance, your ability to cross into spaces where others cannot step foot,” the matriarch smiled. “The blood of the ancients.”

“So, you can tell?” I snorted, puzzled.

“Yes,” she answered.

“Curious,” I muttered. “And where were you intending to send me? And most importantly, what’s in it for me? I assume this won’t be a walk in the park.”

“I have a place in mind,” the old woman confirmed. “And yes, your journey will have little in common with a pleasant stroll. As for what’s in it for you… If it all works out, your power and might will be increased. I guarantee it.”

“So, you want to use me to start fires?” I gave a wry smile. “Ahem… Not a bad way to start a friendship.”

Not a sinew twitched on the matriarch’s face. I knew the old woman would be harder to get to than that. I hadn’t mentioned the gnomes or anything. Hatred for the bearded pipsqueaks seemed to run in her veins.

At first, I thought she would start getting cagey and try to make excuses or offer to shower me in gold and gemstones. Beyond that, I’d thought through all the pluses and minuses of our future pact. I wanted to stick to the main plan. I could not say how much longer Gallia might hold out. But Lu-Moa seemed to know where to push. The matriarch seemed to want me to provide access to another few local underground mysteries.

Basically, the old woman managed to both catch my interest and me off guard.

“Yes, I want to use you for the good of my brood,” she stated directly. “And I am honest with you. Is that not the first step toward friendship?”

I chuckled. That was indeed sound. She was honest with me. Now the choice was mine. All that remained was for me to see where she was trying to send me.

“Go ahead,” I said shortly, all the while trying to keep my voice steady.

“Have you ever heard of the City of Shadows?” the old woman asked mutedly.

Either it was just me, or I heard sincere alarm in her voice.

“Nope,” I frowned. “Another secret of the subterranean world that had to be hidden from those that dwell beneath the open sky?”

I decided to jibe at her a bit with that question. She’d used very similar phrasing the first time we met.

“Yes,” Lu-Moa replied shortly, without a hint of a smile.

On the outside, I remained calm, but my heart was beating like a wild orcish battle drum. All the secrets the kobold matriarch had told me about so far had brought massive gains.

“You know something?” she snorted. “I’ll never get used to the fact I cannot sense your emotions.”

I chuckled.

“Well, now that we’ve started telling each other the truth… I must admit, I’m very worried.”

She nodded and responded with a smirk. After that, she launched into a tale.

“The ancient legends of my people say that, during the battle against the Abyss creatures that flooded the lower levels of the Palace of Ten Thousand Columns, the Lord of the Deep created a secret location on one of the lowest levels, which his descendants came to call the City of Shadows.”

“A secret location?” I asked.

“Yes,” the old woman nodded. “In the tales of my people, it is said that the secret location was created specifically so the palace’s defenders could go there to rest and heal their wounds.”

“Curious,” I muttered thoughtfully. After that, quickly gathering my wits, I asked: “So you’re saying it was so secret and secure, not a single Abyss creature was able to get inside?”

“Correct,” the old woman nodded.

“Ahem… I’m afraid to even imagine the Lord of the Deep’s power,” I said with a shiver. “How is that even possible? To create a city inside a palace?”

Delving deeper though, I knew the palace was big enough to fit Orchus hundreds of times over. And I hadn’t even been to the lower levels yet.

Lu-Moa laughed:

“In fact, the answer lays on the surface. It’s just that not everyone can think their way through to such a simple and elegant solution.”

“You have my attention,” I chuckled back. “A city in a palace… Nonsense… Although… Hold up! But what if…”

I raised my head. I’d bet my hand the “blind” old woman could see better than most “sighted” beings. She’s standing there with a smile on her face.

“A portal!” tore itself out of me. “The Lord of the Deep opened a portal to…” I faltered. Then quickly picked back up: “A portal to where? To another world? Strange. A world the size of a city?”

“Some theorize that the city is located deep underground,” the old woman said quizzically. “A huge cave surrounded by rock on all sides with only one way in – through a portal.”

“That explains everything,” I nodded. “And you want me to find that portal?”

“Exactly right,” Lu-Moa said. “I and many of my kind before me tried to seek the entrance to the city but, alas, the secret symbols only open for descendants of the ancients.”

I nodded. Yes, I’m familiar. The Hunter fishhooks work the same way.

“Good,” I said. “So why can’t you find yourselves an identical cave and found your own city there?”

“Won’t work,” the old woman chuckled. “It would be but a cave and nothing more. The City of Shadows though is above all a very well-defended location, which the Lord of the Deep himself strove to make safe.”

“Alright,” I nodded. “Let’s say I am able to find this portal and reach the city. How will you get there? I thought you said only the ancients and their descendants could use the portal.”

“Only the ancients may enter the Palace of Ten Thousand Columns,” the matriarch said quizzically. “But I was still able to get you and all your fighters in there. And make off with all your loot. Which there was quite a lot of.”

I smiled. Good point. Ah… If only I could travel that way.

Meanwhile, Lu-Moa continued:

“Making it to the lower floors of the palace and finding the portal will be no simple task. But it’s worth the risk! Just imagine what you will find in the City of Shadows! I’m sure it will be full of artifacts left behind by the Ancients. Everything you find there is yours. And another thing… To compensate you, or in case you fail, as a consolation prize, I can show you a place where you’ll find the body of another guardian.”

I shuddered.

“So, you knew where another guardian was all along?”

“Yes,” the old woman nodded.

“Why didn’t you say?” I asked. “I think we could have come to an arrangement.”

The matriarch shrugged her shoulders.

“At that time, I simply did not believe you could even reach the golem on the third level. And the next one down is on the sixth.”

I stroked my chin thoughtfully. Accept her offer, or refuse? The spirit hadn’t let slip a single word for the duration of our conversation. Kera hadn’t made a peep either. But I knew approximately what they would say. One would try to talk me out of the risky venture, and the other would do the opposite – demand more sacrifices and blood.

“What is your decision?” Lu-Moa tore me away from my thinking.

I shook my head and replied:

“Even though the Great System annulled our pact, and we are no longer bound by oaths, I promised to help you find a new home. And I’m the kind of guy who keeps his promises.”

Chapter 19

THE OLD WOMAN didn’t wait around. A familiar portal arch appeared a step away from us.

“I don’t trust her,” the spirit chimed in. “Do we really have to go there?”

“Charon’s Amulet!” Kera deigned to join the conversation. “How did that lowly scavenger get her hands on it?”

“What are you talking about?” I strained. “What do you mean Charon’s Amulet?”

“An artifact of my surly big brother,” Kera chuckled. “To that point, I strongly suggest you slay that old woman and take the amulet from her.”

“Coming?” Lu-Moa rasped out, having noticed my puzzled state. “Or have you reconsidered?”

“Don’t!” the spirit squeaked.

“Go!” Kera exclaimed. “I can sense a lot of energy and I think I know where she opened a portal to!”

I snorted. Basically exactly like I thought. The spirit whined and Kera was out for blood.

I nodded in silence to the old woman and took a decisive step into the portal. And meanwhile, I had no doubts she could “see” my gesture.

“I will not go with you,” I heard Lu-Moa’s rasping voice behind me. “I cannot afford the risk.”

I turned. She was standing on the other side of the passage, gray cliffs forming a backdrop behind her.

“I do not need your help,” I replied. “Neither of us want you dying by accident. Then who would pull me out of there?”

To be frank, I wasn’t particularly worried about whether I could get out of the caverns by myself. With a scout like my spirit and hints from Kera… I could handle it. Where am I going? I’m just wasting a lot of time. And that’s something I do not want. I first planned to quickly find the mysterious city of the ancients and fill my pockets in the process. I needed tablets and esses like never before. Badly. And a lot. Very soon, I would go to the gnomes who were mounting a defense in their catacombs. There, I would again encounter Alrak and the Steel King. And that encounter would be our last.

“May the gods keep you!” the old woman said, and the portal arch disappeared.

As soon as that happened, I activated my summoning amulets. While my pets sniffed around cautiously, I commanded the spirit to go scout.

It kept quietly muttering something to itself but complied and flew up ahead.

“You said you recognized this place,” I said to the goddess, though honestly without much hope for a response.

But she was clearly in a generous mood, so she deigned to reply.

“Foolish scavenger,” Kera snorted. “This is no palace… And it was not built by the ancients.”

“Then what is it?” I looked around at the massive carved columns, reaching up all the way to the stone cave roof.

“This is an abandoned temple of my mother,” Kera replied with a hiss. “Nox, goddess of the night.”

“Sounds like there’s no love lost between you,” I snorted.

“Love?!” Kera barked out with so much anger it sent a chill running down my spine. “Foolish mortal! There’s no such thing as love! It’s a fiction concocted by such pitiful vermin as yourself!”

“Then what does exist?” I asked calmly.

“Strength! Power! Might! Majesty!”

A curious little family. A den of vipers, no doubt. I found it hard to picture Kera as a child. A little girl with hair all in braids with ribbons. I shook my head, driving off the unusual vision.

“So, this Charon… He’s your brother?”

“Yes,” the goddess replied much calmer. “Feisty old nut. He dedicated his life to serving the Lord of the Abyss. He’s the ferryman of dead souls. By the way, the amulet your friend uses was made from a sliver of his oar.”

“So, it’s a divine artifact?”

“Precisely,” Kera confirmed. “You could really use something like it. Then, you could open a portal to any point in your world. Well, any point you’ve been to before.”

“What if it’s a place with restricted access? For example, based on reputation or a blood mark.”

“Immaterial,” Kera threw out carelessly. “That thing was made by Charon himself. Which is why I can’t make sense of this. What great deed did that blind toad perform to get the amulet? Might she have snatched it off a dead body? Or looted it from an ancient crypt?”

“What makes you call her a scavenger?” I inquired.

“What else do you think she is?” Kera snorted. “Her and the rest of her filthy tribe are as much scavengers as anything. So, when she shows back up, kill her. And take the amulet for yourself.”

I shook my head. What a bloodthirsty brute. And the longer we’re together, the more bloodthirsty she becomes.

“What can you tell me about this place?” I decided to change the topic. “And about the city the old woman was referring to.”

“Clever little mortal,” Kera chuckled. “Let it come as a surprise. But if you were my priest…”

There we go again. Same old song and dance.

“Do you not care if I live or die?” I asked, ignoring her.

“Nice try, kid,” Kera giggled and fell silent.

Alright, we’re done. The well of discoveries has run dry. Now, as they say, I’ll have to make it on my own.

While speaking with my capricious patron, I was looking around closely. The old woman had brought us to the same level as before. She was clearly afraid to go further down.

I should note that the levels we’d cleared previously had filled back up with all kinds of nasty creatures. And no wonder. We left mountains of meat in our wake. The foxfolk loot brigade had gathered only the valuable body parts from the creatures we’d slain. I’m scared to even imagine the kinds of feeding frenzies this place must have seen after we left.

For the record, my coming did not go unnoticed. Not even a second after Kera stopped talking, the cavern’s new occupants started flooding out of every nook and cranny.

The little packs formed into rivulets. Then they joined into bigger streams. And a few seconds later, they came together into one giant wave rolling toward us, hissing ferociously and clacking its mandibles.

“Keep it professional,” I warned the whipsnakes harshly. Especially Coal. That wretch was always lunging ahead or bursting forward without being told. I waited for the area to fill up with more creatures so I could hit them all at once.

All of them were little toothy crab-like hexapods. Unlike the cavern’s former occupants, the current ones were mainly level-twenty small fry. Monsters over thirty were a rare sight. They hadn’t had time to grow up yet. Honestly though, their numbers were striking. Three hundred of them at least.

When the wave was just fifty paces away, I gave the command to Coal.

With a menacing hiss, the whipsnake coiled up, then shook his anthracite tail and, a moment later, a wave of fire swallowed up the creatures. The cavern practically flooded with fire. It got so hot that the first ranks of the column started to melt as if they were made of wax.

This time the spell’s fire didn’t hurt us at all. It was down to the fact that, at maximum level, spells started getting effects to give allies immunity.

The only real downside was how blindingly bright it was after our eyes had gotten used to the darkness.

I watched with bated breath as the fire elemental swallowed up the six-footed monsters and imagined necromorphs and wraiths in their place. And a ravenous smile dawned on my face.

The system faithfully reported my loot. Just under one and a half million esses and just over three thousand silver tablets, bringing me up to a total of over one hundred thousand. But alas, not a single gold or diamond. Kera had also gotten greedy. But that was no big surprise. I needed stronger opponents.

Meanwhile, the fire went out, having turned every living thing in a twenty-foot swath in front of us to ash. Another nice bonus was that Coal’s wave of fire now remained active three times as long. And the cooldown was shorter than two hours.

* * *

It took us a few hours to reach the third level. We’d already slain up to a total of seven hundred creatures. As I expected. Most of them were little, not having had a chance to grow big.

On level three, the spirit rejoined us.

“Prepare yourselves!” it shouted on the fly. “Three lesser demons are headed this way!”

“Finally,” I rubbed my hands together and asked: “How deep did you go?”

“To the very bottom,” the spirit caught me by surprise.

“How many are there?”

“Eleven,” the spirit answered unwillingly. “Rick, listen…”

“You gonna try to talk me out of this again?”

“You don’t get it…” it started. “I don’t think this is a palace at all… This is…”

“A temple of the goddess Nox,” I nodded.

“But how?” the spirit was first surprised, then sighed: “Did she tell you that?”

“What did you see down there?” I asked.

The spirit said nothing.

“Come on!” I frowned. “Why won’t you spit it out?”

“Rick, you don’t get it! Down there… Down there…”

“Is my momma’s altar!” Kera exclaimed.

I shuddered. The sound of her voice shook the stones over my head. A stinging chill ran over my body.

“You must dedicate it to me!” Kera was losing it. “You hear that, mortal?! Do that and power is yours! Lots of power!”

I winced. The same old song and dance. I was getting so sick of her capricious antics.

“Don’t even think of destroying it! I forbid you!”

I realized that this was not the best time to bare my fangs, but she was making me mad.

“You have no power over me!” I barked, putting all my Will into it. “Did you forget?! No one has the right to give me orders!”

“You owe your victories to me!” Kera wasn’t even thinking of backing down.

“Thanks to me, you’re eating more energy than you could have dreamed of in a thousand years!” I snarled. “But it’s still not enough for you!”

“You’re forgetting your place, little mortal!” Kera hissed menacingly. “My patience is running thin!”

“Mine, too!” I barked and reached the portal once sealed by the Lord of the Deep in a couple long bounds. This was where the so-called boundary of the Abyss once began, where we slayed a lesser demon.

After that, I took a handful of ghostly crystals from my backpack with both hands, which I’d saved up several tens of thousands of during my time as a hunter and raised them to the Dark archway.

“Nooooo!” Kera wailed out in fear. “No! Don’t even think of it! You’d be breaking contact with me! You will not be able to use my power!”

“That’s right,” I took a short step toward the portal. “But I would be rid of your mark and have my former powers back!”

“You will not defeat your foes like that!”

“But I will be rid of you!”

I took another short step.

“Stop!” Kera begged. “Wait! Don’t do it… I beg you…”

“No more orders?” I raised a brow and looked around.

“No…” Kera responded, now in a calmer voice. “I got too heated. I shouldn’t have tried to pressure you. You have to understand…”

“Something else I owe you?”

After saying that, I shook my hands.

“Stop! Stop! No, nothing… I just beg you to understand me. This is the first time in many hundreds of years I get the chance to have an altar like that! You simply cannot imagine how mighty my mother is! If I take away one of her altars, even one like that, it will give me a chance to start all over.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“I cannot tell you.”

“You sure?” I moved a handful of crystals.

“I swear it! The gods are bound by those rules. You are not my priest. And you may not access these secrets.”

Based on what she’d said, she was telling the truth.

“Rick…” the spirit whispered. “I have something to tell you… Trust me, that altar… You just don’t understand…”

The spirit’s disjointed speech was interrupted by a warning growl from Gorgie. We had visitors.

“Later,” I waved it off and got ready to activate avatar.

“Please consider my offer,” the goddess said ingratiatingly and stopped talking.

She was acting meek as a lamb. That’s what I thought. She’d definitely throw out some nastiness. I had forced her to beg and apologize. She would not forgive me that humiliation. But that would come later. Now is time to fight!

At first, we heard a loud roar. Then a ball of Darkness appeared in the tunnel. And after it came two more. They came racing our way headlong. Their heavy thudding footsteps echoed off the walls, dissolving in the depths of the infinite enfilade of ancient halls.

The closer they came, the more the blackness faded to reveal three lizard-like monsters. All three were at level one hundred and ten. A toxic green flame came bursting from their toothy maws. Their huge claws left long grooves in the stone tiles.

Lesser demons. It was for killing another one of them last time that the higher powers granted me an Iridescent tablet containing the spell Decay of the Abyss. Which had saved my hide on a number of occasions. I could see perfectly well what we had ahead if even one of the creatures hit us with that. So, I was not going to take any risks.

This time, I would be attacking first. With their own weapon. I waited a few moments for the demons to get within range of the attack, drew on Dark energy and activated Decay of the Abyss.

― By using 3000 points of Dark Hunter Fury, you have activated the enhanced spell Breath of the Abyss!

— Warning! The element you are summoning knows no mercy! Either take care to provide acceptable defense or try to stay away from the epicenter of the storm.

— Warning! Spell damage radius: 650 feet

“Use your Will to direct the spell,” Kera gave me an unexpected hint. “Otherwise, you’ll take down yourself and your beasties.”

“How so?” I asked, stunned. The wicked entity had not demonstrated this much involvement before.

“Easy,” Kera responded acridly. “Take control of the element you summoned and direct it where you want it to go. To have such a high Will and not know the basics! If your teacher were here, I’d tear their head off!”

I choked. But tried to do what she told me.

“I’m self-taught…”

“That explains a lot…” Kera came thoughtfully and added: “But that’s actually for the best.”

Meanwhile, I watched the dark element racing toward the three beasts and tried to exercise control. And essentially, I pulled it off. Kera was right! I just had to apply some pressure with my Will and smoothly steer the elemental where I wanted it to go. I wonder if this only works with element spells.

“You aren’t as hopeless as you look,” Kera praised me and added a cloud to the silver lining: “I just cannot figure why you used so much Dark Fury… A thousand would have sufficed against these weaklings. Maybe even less.”

I snorted. Weaklings! She just called three Demons of the Abyss “weaklings.”

Finally, the wave of black flame swallowed up the monsters. And a minute later, the first system message came before my eyes:

— You have killed Lesser Demon of the Abyss (110)

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (22,000)

— Diamond tablet (5)

― Gold tablet (20)

— Silver tablet (50)

— Dark Hunter Fury (27.5)

And that was quickly followed by another two identical notifications. But the fourth block of text, which came with a slight delay, made my heartbeat speed up.

— Attention! You have replicated the legendary feat of Vartag Bluebeard! The Goddess Kera smiles upon you! Using her power, you have slain 3 creatures containing a fragment of Nox goddess of the Night’s energy!

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (10,000,000)

― Diamond tablet (200)

— Gold tablet (500)

— Silver tablet (3000)

― Large crystal of dark fury (5)

— Iridescent Tablet “Touch of Darkness.”

― Touch of Darkness

― Description:

― One of the most effective spells in the Darkness magic arsenal.

― Type: Healing

― Rarity: Legendary

― Magic School: Darkness

― Effect:

― Using the power of Darkness, mages can restore their life force as well as those of all allies.

― Effect:

― +200 Regeneration

― Refills all supplies, as well as those of allies by 50%

― Requirements:

― Intellect – 90

― Expends 1500 mana points

― Note:

― Regeneration duration: 5 hours

An extra special thanks for that spell! I’d gotten used to having a healing spell close at hand. But with it blocked… Well, I really felt the lack.

As much as I wanted to invest ten points into Will, I was forced to improve Mind instead. The goddess’ mission had taken priority.

— Attention!

— You have increased the Mind characteristic by 10 points!

— Present value: 129

As soon as the system reported on the characteristic being improved, the spirit gave a muted gasp. But quickly shut its mouth again. Based on its vividly expressed emotions, something had it very afraid. As a matter of fact, it was panicking. I also realized it did not want to talk to me about what happened. Strange…

Okay. It could tell me later.

Throwing the spirit’s suspicious behavior straight out of my mind, I pushed on. Toward the monsters that dwelled in the even deeper levels of this cursed location.

Chapter 20

IT HAD BEEN FIVE DAYS since I killed the three lesser demons and crossed the so-called boundary of the Abyss. Five long days packed full of fights with subterranean creatures we dealt with handily. I had not yet raised my pets’ levels or parameters. I was okay with them progressing naturally for the time being. Where better to do that than here?

I seemed to recall the spirit forecasting slow levelling and a lack of high-level creatures. And that dream came true. Quote-unquote dream, of course. I didn’t totally understand what had gotten into him. Of course, I was used to him being panicky. But this time, there was something strange going on. Every subsequent level made him less talkative and more brooding. He hadn’t let slip almost a single word in five days. And when he did speak, it was only when I asked him questions. To tell the truth, we didn’t particularly care about conversations. There was too much action to get bored. But knowing how talkative the spirit could be, I could tell it was hiding something and waiting for an opportunity to tell me something it viewed as important.

On to level six. The creatures guarding it had been slain, and I called a short break.

I didn’t totally understand why Lu-Moa called this part of the former palace, or rather temple as it had turned out, the boundary of the Abyss. I personally hadn’t noticed a difference between the levels. Except perhaps that there were more creatures, and their levels were higher. But still… It was just more shadowy, grand structures.

And for the record, the fact it had been a temple specifically became clear on this level. We came across gigantic bas-reliefs on the walls depicting fragments of events that had taken place centuries ago. For the most part, they were various images of the goddess of the Night, as well as mass sacrifices.

Opposite one such relief, I stopped to take a closer look at the masterpiece. The stonemason had depicted a large crowd on a flat rock consisting of various races and peoples. Among them were humans, gnomes, orcs, elves, trolls, ogres and even gremlins. And all of them were standing in even rows with their heads held high. The mason had clearly put effort into imbuing their little stone faces with joy, smiles and spirituality.

Among the artfully carved stone figures, there were also little children. They were standing next to the adults or sitting in their parents’ arms. Their faces contained so much joy!

I frowned. Why are they so happy? I took ten steps forward and stopped right where all the throngs of mortals were racing towards. The hair on my head stood on end. Sacrificial altars. Dozens of sacrificial altars. They looked most of all like butchers’ tables. And behind every table stood a priest with a long dagger with a slightly curved blade.

At first, I thought the priests belonged to some unknown race. But then I quickly realized their hideous animal faces were just masks.

On the sacrificial altars lied the “lucky ones” who had reached the front of the line. Priests’ daggers were sticking out of a few of their chests, but the smiles of ecstasy remained plastered on their faces. The mason was so artful that I found myself unwittingly picturing myself standing in the crowd, delighted at my impending slaughter.

I shook my head to banish the vision and took another few steps toward the edge of the stone image. There, I saw a wide chasm where they were dumping the bodies of the voluntarily sacrificed fanatics. At the bottom of the chasm burned a ferocious flame, eating through its blood tribute with satisfaction.

“That is the Abyss,” Kera suddenly piped up, making me shudder.

My patron’s voice sounded strange. As if she were talking about something very pleasant. It was the kind of tone people normally used to talk about tasty food.

It really grossed me out.

“You want me to do that?” I asked and nodded toward the priests.

“Well why not?” Kera answered with a question of her own.

She paid my snarky tone no mind. Or pretended to…

“Cut the throats of a couple mortals in my name, and you can have a modicum of power,” she continued. “Beyond that, as you see, they’ll even be happy to die for their goddess.”

The spirit gasped mutedly. But I heard it. Strange. What’s its deal?

“I won’t leave you out in the cold, either!” Kera pushed. “As my top priest, you shall have the most of all! Beyond that, as soon as you find me a couple junior priests, you will no longer have to sully your own hands. But still, you will gain power.”

“Then you’ll demand I build you a temple,” I stated.

“This one will do just fine,” Kera snorted. “We will have to make big changes, though. My mom always had vulgar taste.”

“You mean these reliefs?”

“Yes,” she answered. “You will find me craftsmen to create true masterpieces rather than this antiquated junk. They shall depict my great deeds! It will be amazing! My followers will be in ecstasy! Energy will flow into me like a river!”

“And blood sacrifices are the only way?” I asked.

“Little fool!” Kera laughed. “Do you not grow stronger when you kill?”

“I do not have to kill,” I responded. “It is possible to grow stronger without killing.”

“By gathering herbs?” Kera laughed. “Or pebbles?”

“Or making things,” I ignored her mockery.

“Oh, Abyss!” Kera exclaimed regretfully. “Why of all the dolts in the world did I end up with the most dimwitted and stubborn of them all?!”

“If you’re out of arguments, just say so,” I shrugged and walked over to the relief of the goddess of the Night.

The craftsman had depicted her as a beautiful young woman dressed in an ankle-length stola, pinned at the shoulder with an elegant fibula. Eyes slightly squinted. A meek smile on a sweet face.

“You’d never know she’s supposed to be the goddess Nox, who these priests sacrificed so many people’s lives to,” I said, looking at the bas-relief.

“Nyx,” Kera corrected me. “Nyx is her true name. And yes, you are correct. Appearances can be deceiving.”

Notes of hatred and bitterness cut through in Kera’s voice.

“Nyx,” I said in a near whisper and asked louder. “And still, what happened between you? Where is all this malice coming from?”

Kera kept quiet. But the spirit suddenly chimed in:

“According to the chronicles On Demons and Forgotten Gods,” he began in a quaking voice. “Kera, due to her uh… detestable tendencies, mainly her consumption of the blood of the dead, was driven out of the kingdom of Dark gods by her mother. And that is why in her exile, she wanders from world to world, defiling sacrificial altars and temples dedicated to her mother among others. And that is precisely why all the Dark gods ganged up against her, labeled her a renegade, and forbid mortals from worshipping her.”

“There, you see, kid,” Kera chuckled. “We have a lot in common. We’re both outcasts. Renegades.”

“Yes,” I nodded. “But I do not drink the blood of the dead.”

Kera broke down laughing. Which made the hair on the back of my head stand on end.

“Maybe you should!” the batty goddess shouted, laughing. “You become my priest and I’ll teach you to extract power from the blood of the dead.”

That made me bend to the breaking point. A lump rose up in my throat. My stomach felt a sudden twinge, threatening to expel everything I’d eaten that day. I spat on the ground, but quickly got myself back together. She really was a nutcase… I somehow lost all desire to talk to her. But I didn’t want to end the conversation so quickly, either.

“I assume her mommy just sits around dreaming of ways to drag her wayward daughter back into the fold?”

“The chronicles don’t say a word about that,” the spirit replied. “But most likely that is true. She has played too many dirty tricks on her whole family.”

Kera didn’t react to my incitement. She just kept silent. Alright then.

By the way…

“You find the golem?” I asked the spirit. “Or was the old bat wrong?”

“The matriarch was correct,” the spirit replied. “The golem is on this level. It’s lying against the opposite wall.”

“What?!” I exclaimed. “Why didn’t you say anything?! Show me!”

Without a word, the spirit went flying away from the wall with its ghastly bas-reliefs. And following behind, I quickly crossed the room and stopped in front of a pile of stone rubble at the foot of a wide column.

That rubble was the golem. A stone guardian. Created by the Lord of the Deep.

I slowly walked around the giant golem’s body and shook my head in astonishment. This one was clearly different from the ones we found on the third level. That one was more like a gutted fish. But this one was in decent shape. Its big, huge horned snake head was still in place. Tail. Scales. The golem resembled a massive stone statue. Without a single scratch or crack! What great luck!

“I don’t see a single imperfection on its skin.”

“There are none,” the spirit confirmed.

“So, you’re saying this is a totally undamaged golem?” I asked, insinuatingly.

“Not exactly,” the spirit replied. “It’s damaged on the inside. Whoever attacked this guardian must have known they couldn’t get through its scales. And so, it was attacked with some unusual spell affecting the internal organs. But that’s no big deal. I have already studied the damage in depth and concluded I can restore this one and another two golems using the bodies of the remaining guardians.”

“Remaining guardians?” I asked, even quieter.

A wild animal started banging around inside of me. This blabbermouth could talk my ear off about total nonsense, but the fact it had found another few ancient golems? That seemed unimportant.

“Yes,” the spirit answered quietly.

My tone seemingly had it on guard. Or had it already guessed that it was in trouble?

“I found the bodies of all golems in this temple. There are fourteen. Or rather, there were. Some have suffered greatly. Some, as they say, are just skin and bones. But as I said, I could restore three guardians completely and get them moving. It’ll just take a huge amount of mana. But I think you’ll manage. Honestly though, there is one problem…”

The more the spirit said, the more my eyes crept up into my forehead. My anger at the blabbermouth was gone though. And no wonder. It had just told me that I had just become the richest man in the world. Fourteen golems! Even if they weren’t totally intact. How much crystal would be in them?! A chill ran down my spine. Using a few small shards, Gallia was planning to bring back her bronze legion.

And why stop there?! What a powerful supply one could make with all that! Oh gods! After all, a whole three guardians could be brought to life… I’m afraid to even imagine the power of the ancient machines. I wonder what they are capable of.

Wait. The spirit said something, but I was so deep in my daydreams I missed it.

“Problem?” I asked distractedly. “What kind of problem?”

“The thing is the other golems are on the final, eleventh level.”

“Another five levels and we’re there…” I started but the spirit stopped me.

“Wait, I’m not done yet,” it said embarrassedly.

“Listen, I noticed a while ago that you have something to tell me, but you keep tiptoeing around it and sighing,” I said stubbornly. “What is going on with you?”

“She’s…” the spirit faltered.

It must be trying to say that Kera, no matter how the two of us conversed, could hear us.

“In one way or another, she’ll find out,” I waved it off. “Shoot.”

“I have been keeping quiet about something,” the spirit said softly and launched straight into it: “I found an ancient manuscript in the Order of Mages citadel that was about gods and their incarnation in physical bodies.”

“Shitang believes that Alrak is scheming to offer up his body to the god of death,” I nodded. “Is that what you wanted to tell me?”

“Not exactly,” said the spirit. “I was afraid to tell you that after you increased your Mind score, I was able to read Magister Timps’ Treatise on the Properties of Items.”

“Ahhh,” I drawled out, frowning and crossing my arms on my chest. “We can talk about the fact you decided to take matters into your own hands next time. Believe me, it’s not gonna be fun. Tell me what’s written on the page Kera mentioned in the mission.”

“Page twenty-eight contains an in-depth description of the incarnation ritual,” the spirit replied.

As soon as it said that a notification came before my eyes.

― Congratulations! You have completed a mission for Dark goddess Kera!

Reward:

― Detailed description of the “Incarnation” ritual.

― Attention! Dark goddess Kera would like you to complete item one in the detailed description of the Incarnation ritual.

Reward:

― Divine artifact.

― Attention! Dark goddess Kera would like you to perform the Incarnation of the Dark goddess Kera ritual.

Reward:

― Variable.

“Agree!” Kera announced solemnly. “And great power shall be yours! This world will fall at your feet! With my help, you will eliminate all of your enemies! You will become emperor of this world!”

I winced. She just doesn’t know when to quit. Still, I must give the goddess her due ― she knows how to mess with peoples’ heads. And she keeps her promises. You could never call her greedy, either. I mean, look at all the loot she’d given me so far.

I shook my head. Yeesh! What’s happening to me? The last set of thoughts were clearly not mine, as if someone was whispering them insistently into my ear.

What a tricky villain!

“If you try to manipulate me again, we part ways for good!” I said menacingly.

“Alright,” Kera grumbled. “I won’t do it again! But I had to try, didn’t I? There’s just no getting through to you! We can’t afford to wait any longer. We might never get such a great chance again!”

“You should leave me alone for a while. I have to think.”

The goddess fell silent.

Meanwhile, I addressed the spirit:

“What all is on that list?”

The spirit sighed.

“Number one is to find an acceptable altar and dedicate it to your goddess. Two is become her priest. Three is to find a strong body to incarnate the goddess. And in the end to perform the ritual.”

“And all those actions have to be sealed with sacrifices?” I chuckled.

“Yes.”

“That was about what I thought. The one thing I don’t understand is why you didn’t say anything. What had you so afraid?”

“It all comes down to one thing,” the spirit said softly. “On the final floor, there is also a very ancient and very powerful supply. AKA, an altar of Nyx. It is dormant now, but you could awaken it. I should know. And that scares me a lot. In fact, I’m horrified! If that brute gets what she’s after and acquires a body in our world, she will spill rivers of innocent blood.”

I nodded.

“I hear you. What else?”

The spirit stumbled. But it quickly got its emotions under control and replied:

“The altar/supply is guarded by a greater demon of the Abyss. You haven’t come up against anything like that yet. Level two hundred fifty. I think it’s what wrecked the guardian. And all the others for that matter. The golems strewn about on the final level… Eric… Forgive me… I’m scared…”

I fell silent for a bit, then replied, looking pensively at the column the golem was lying next to:

“I beg you. But you have to believe me. No matter what happens, you have to know that I only act in our best interest. I mean, you understand. We’re practically one and the same…”

I was in the mood to continue the educational talk, but I had to turn my attention elsewhere. Right opposite me, I noticed an odd detail on the relief of a column.

Without a word, paying no mind to the spirit’s excited questioning and Kera’s calls to war, I walked over to the relief and looked at a strange symbol carved into the stone.

Realizing I was not going to respond, they both shut their mouths. I could practically feel their curious looks in my skin.

The first thing that jumped out at me when I looked closer at the wall was that the symbol had clearly been there a while. Uh… Well, relatively…

In comparison with the main scenes of sacrifices and worship, the mysterious symbol looked out of place. Five wavy tongues of flame, lapping out from a central point to form a five-pointed star.

My hand reached out for the protruding image all on its own. As soon as my finger touched the little indentation in the middle of the star, I felt a prick. I glanced at the pad of my pointer finger and chuckled. Then, I saw a familiar message.

— Attention! Blood analysis: Positive.

— Mark activated. Would you like to continue route to next mark?

— Cost of service 50 mana points.

Chapter 21

— You have killed Greater Demon of the Abyss (250)

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (50,000)

— Diamond tablet (20)

― Gold tablet (70)

— Silver tablet (150)

— Dark Hunter Fury (62.5)

— Attention! You have replicated the legendary feat of Amalia the Ruthless! The goddess Kera blesses you! Using her power, you have slain one of Nyx goddess of the Night’s foremost servants.

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (10,000,000)

― Diamond tablet (200)

— Gold tablet (500)

— Silver tablet (3000).

― Large crystal of dark fury (5)

— Iridescent tablet “Pox”

— Attention! You have replicated the legendary feat of Magister Li! The goddess Kera blesses you! Using her power, you have slain 30 creatures containing a modicum of the energy of Nyx goddess of the Night!

— Congratulations! You receive:

— Experience essence (20,000,000)

― Diamond tablet (400)

— Gold tablet (700)

— Silver tablet (5000)

― Large crystal of dark fury (5)

— Iridescent tablet “Shadow Curse”

I SKIMMED THE SYSTEM’s last few notifications and crouched down wearily on the floor then, with a sigh of relief, stretched out to my full height on a stone slab carved with ancient symbols.

Done! Level eleven over. The ancient temple of Nyx had been fully cleared of the vermin that had come to inhabit it in such huge numbers. That left only various low-level creatures cowering in the distant and hard-to-reach corners of the cursed underground temple.

Of course, sooner or later, the hidden creatures would come out of the woodwork and start to eat the mountains of meat we’d left behind just like after my last visit. But that would not be my problem. Honestly, it would have made sense to come back here with a loot brigade as well. Despite the mass destructive attacks, we left a lot of valuable loot laying around.

But alas, there was no way into the temple without Lu-Moa’s help. And something’s telling me that I’ll never see her again after I let her into the City of Shadows. As an aside, the arrow activated by the mysterious mark did not disappoint. The portal arch to the secret sanctuary of the Ancients was found on the final level.

It took us seven days to get down there. The further we went, the stronger the creatures became, but they were no challenge for us. On top of that, I added five levels to all my pets. Now all three of them were seventy-two.

The only opponent that made us sweat was the Greater Demon of the Abyss. The magic arachnid was level two hundred fifty, and its body was covered in a thick layer of chitin.

The demon, despite its size, was quite mobile. It was even able to cast a few spells our way. But to its misfortune, its visitor was a mortal who had been marked by the goddess Kera.

The demon resisted fiercely, but not for long. While the harn and whipsnakes tied it up with melee, I got into a good position. It paid no attention to me, having concluded reasonably that the giant snakes were its true rivals, not some puny little zero. And that was its fatal error. That little zero waited for his opportunity, then slammed the demon with dark lightning, immobilizing it for a few long moments before plunging a Spear of Ash into the creature’s heart.

I could have ended the battle less flashily. For example, by bringing a dark-energy enhanced Decay of the Abyss crashing down on the goddess of Night’s greater servant, or maybe Darkness’ Vengeance, but that could have damaged the ancient golem bodies nearby. Overall, I had to do a lot of running around, but we managed it.

While the harn and whipsnakes disemboweled the demon’s pinned-down body, I decided to look through the two iridescent tablets. Lazily stroking my pets’ blood-soaked snouts, I snorted. Despite the fear-inducing name, demons were creatures of flesh and blood. Both the lesser and, apparently, greater ones. And Gorgie was really savoring its liver. The snakes couldn’t leave it alone either. Sparky had just swallowed its giant heart, while Coal tried to wolf down the thick chitin armor surrounding the creature’s brain.

I was already used to such bloody feasts accompanied by loud crunching of bones and gnashing of teeth. So, after admiring my hungry beasts for a bit, I took the two pearlescent sheets from my backpack and delved into their text and characteristics.

― Pox

― Description:

― One of the most powerful Darkness magic spells, created by Kramen the Poisoner.

― Level: 0 (0/30)

― Type: Offensive/Area of Effect

― Rarity: Legendary

― Magic School: Darkness

― Effect:

— Caster specifies a point and activates a toxic fog

― Requirements:

― Intellect – 15

― Expends 10,000 mana points

― Radius of effect: 300 feet

― Duration: 10 minutes

― Note:

― Cooldown time: 3 days

I considered the potential consequences of activating the spell and shivered. What if it was also powered up with Dark Fury? Ahem… Every subsequent Iridescent Kera grants me, I realized more and more the nature of the goddess so desperate to gain physical form in my world.

Kera scares me to the point of hiccups, but she’s right. If I get rid of her mark, I’m done for. My former capabilities were no match for my present ones. The dark fury supply gives me power. A lot of power…

Shaking my head to drive off the dark thoughts, I opened the description of the second Iridescent.

― Shadow Curse

― Description:

― One of the most powerful Darkness magic spells, created by the magisters of the Order of Shadows.

― Level: 0 (0/30)

― Type: Attack

― Rarity: Legendary

― Magic School: Darkness

― Description:

― Using dark energy, mages can place a powerful curse on an opponent/item by touching their shadow, bypassing defenses.

― Effect:

― Deals 50,000 points of damage to the internal structure of the item/internal organs of an opponent.

― Requirements:

― Intellect – 50

― Expends 4500 mana points

― Note:

― Duration: Takes effect upon touching the enemy/item’s shadow

Curious spell. Can’t wait to try it out. It eats through a lot of mana, but I can afford such extravagances now. But first…

— Attention!

— You have increased the Will characteristic by 20 points!

— Present value: 678

I stood up deftly and looked around. My pets stopped feasting on cue and all stared at me as if to ask, “what’s wrong?”

I waved a hand to let them know they could keep eating and looked around for an appropriate item to destroy.

The spirit, digging around in the innards of the golems all that time, also paid me some attention.

“Eric,” it started excitedly. “I had an idea. What if we bring all these golems up to the surface? You think the old bat would agree to help us? And by the way, if she does end up agreeing to it, where do you want to hide all the bodies? After all, we don’t even have anywhere to store all these riches. I mean, are you kidding? Fourteen giant golems packed full of crystals. I can’t even begin to imagine how much it might be worth. Based on what I learned in Hedrim, you will be fabulously wealthy.”

“Or rather, we will be fabulously wealthy,” I corrected with a smile. “But the delivery method and storage location. Those are questions we can settle with Lu-Moa. I’m sure she would accept any terms right now.”

“Just don’t push too hard,” the spirit said with doubt in its voice.

“I promise I’ll be cautious and delicate.”

“I don’t know,” the spirit muttered. “Somehow this all smells fishy. Do you trust her?”

“No,” I shook my head. “Experience has shown that I cannot trust even my own spirit keeper.”

“Come on, again?” he begged. “I said sorry! And you forgave me!”

I snorted. Yes, I had, but I promised that if such a thing ever happened again, I would turn against it. Without my support and Mind branch, it would very quickly transform into a savage mindless spirit, a tasty little treat for any batty orc shaman out there. To say that scared the spirit would be an understatement.

To be frank, I was very upset and gave very serious thought to getting rid of the overly self-starting spirit. It’s one saving grace was that it always strove to do things the right way. Essentially, to protect me and itself from danger. And to tell the truth, I was used to it. Beyond that, it was now a part of my family. And what kind of a family doesn’t forgive mistakes? Overall, the spirit was subjected only to slight fear. I meanwhile noted to myself never to take an eye off it. Like a little child.

“Better say what you’ll need to restore the golems,” I steered the conversation toward another topic of interest. “How many of them could you put into formation?”

“As I said before,” the spirit said. “There’s more than enough wrecks here. Many are damaged, though. I wonder how exactly this was done…”

“A spell called Shadow Curse,” I stated. “Look for yourself.”

The spirit snorted and fell silent for a moment, studying the spell’s description. Then squeezed out approximately the same thoughts that were swirling around in my head:

“What a bloodthirsty patron goddess we got saddled with…”

I nodded and reminded it:

“So, what about the golems?”

“Three,” the spirit said confidently. “I can make three working stone snakes. All told, it will cost me around three thousand sparks of the otherworld.”

I whistled. Our supply of that truly invaluable resource was melting away like snow in the hot sun.

“One thousand a piece,” I said.

“Almost,” the spirit corrected me. “Restoring the one by the wall will take seven hundred sparks. The one on the sixth level, one thousand one hundred.”

I took a look around. There were golem bodies all around us. Most very fragmentary. But others were more intact.

“And which of them will be the third?” I asked, nodding at the ancient guardians.

“The one lying next to the altar,” the spirit muttered.

I turned my head and frowned. My good mood instantly fled.

The altar… The lower down we went, the more insistent Kera became. That hunk of rock, somehow reminiscent of the ones I had seen in the reliefs, tempted her and drove her mad.

Kera had annoyed me to such a point that I threatened to destroy the sacrificial altar. Exactly like I’d done to the altar of Shkha-Ras. The threat worked and the goddess left me alone. But I get the sense it won’t be for long.

With a heavy sigh, I made my way toward the hunk of stone, which looked like a butcher’s table.

The spirit said nothing. I could sense its emotions, but it wasn’t speaking. After the tongue lashing I gave it, it was doing its best not to get on my nerves. Kera on the other hand, came to life:

“It’s dormant,” she said with a quavering voice. “But even in that state, I can sense the power stored within! I will help activate it and share its power with you!”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” I threw out roughly. “I haven’t made any decisions yet.”

“How can you be so stubborn?!” Kera exclaimed regretfully. “Any other mortal in your place would be accepting my attention with tears of gratitude! But you…”

“If you’re expecting me to do that, I’ve got bad news.”

“Foolish mortal!” the goddess barked. “You’re playing with fire!”

“Are you threatening me?” I stopped short, ten steps from the altar.

Kera hiccupped in fear, then quickly shot out:

“No, come now! It was just you! How could I threaten you? We’re friends, aren’t we? Right?”

I chuckled and, without responding, kept moving. I think I heard her give a slight sigh of relief. She was not playing with me. I knew that for certain. Next to the altar, she seemed to get carried away. Like a little child seeing candy in a shop window, she was on her best behavior. But unlike her, the child would eventually be getting the candy it so desired.

I stopped next to the altar an outstretched arm’s length away and started looking it over closely. The first thing that jumped out at me was its smooth flat surface. Oddly, no matter where I looked, everything was covered in centuries’ worth of dust. Other than the altar. It seemed to have been recently polished to a shine.

I ran my hand cautiously over the sacrificial altar and felt its smooth curves. At first, I couldn’t tell what it was, but then it hit me. The stone “tabletop” was shaped like a human body. The stone was also giving off warmth. But not pleasantly like a stove or fireplace, this was hot enough to sting or leave a burn.

I jerked my hand away.

“Well, what were you expecting?!” Kera came again. “Dedicate it to me! And I will share its power with you! Become my priest!”

She was clearly not in her usual state of mind, but I must give the goddess her due – she never tried to manipulate me mentally. Still being cautious.

“I have to think,” I muttered and took a step toward the portal. The same direction as the arrow that appeared after activating the marker.

I thought I heard teeth gnashing. Kera was outraged but keeping herself together. She needed me.

The spirit meanwhile breathed a sigh of relief. I chuckled. It was scared. I don’t blame it. I wonder how it’ll react when I finally enact my scheme. But now is not the time. I have to check the portal. I have to uphold the promise I made to Lu-Moa.

My pets had already finished feasting. The snakes had curled up into balls, while Gorgie was busy licking himself. While walking by the cuddle pile, I activated my summoning amulets. I was not feeling brave enough to scout out the city of the Ancients by myself.

Ideally, I should have let my pets rest, but time waits for no man. We had already fallen behind in this cursed subterranean temple. And beside that, I had yet to do the test…

Stopping three paces from a giant rock lit dimly by the omnipresent gnomish moss, I hunched over its long shadow. I touched my fingers to the stone floor and activated Shadow Curse. A moment later, the rock shifted and blasted to smithereens. I even covered my face with my left hand to block the shrapnel stinging me from head to toe.

“Woah!” the spirit exclaimed admiringly.

I stood to my full height and, shaking the dust and sand from my clothes, smiled. Great!

Beneath the expertly carved stone pattern, I saw a little indentation inside of which I could make out a familiar set of lines ― the fire star. I wonder what it means. I’ll figure it out on the other side.

I extended my hand as usual. The symbol didn’t let me down. It accepted its “blood tribute” and, a moment later, said the analysis was positive.

A wave of magic ran over the wall to reveal the glowing silhouette of a portal. The stone itself looked to have disappeared. Become transparent. I slowly extended my right hand and touched the glowing surface. My fingers didn’t feel any barrier, just disappearing into the glow.

I chuckled. A familiar sensation. This was approximately how I got to Stonetown once upon a time. Hopefully, I don’t meet another spirit on the other side who will decide to try and use me to solve all its problems.

“You sure?” the spirit asked, voice quavering.

“There’s no going back now,” I said firmly and stepped forward.

As soon as I got past the door, the glow disappeared, and the portal arch turned back to stone. The fiery star was right there, as was the groove with a stinger. Good. Means we can get out.

I took a look around. A small cave. Omnipresent glowing moss coating the walls. I filled my lungs with air. I breathed a loud sigh. The air tastes fresh. There must be ample ventilation. I gave a sniff. No outside smells. Great!

I activated Gorgie’s summoning amulet.

“Hrn?” he asked in dismay.

“Sorry I had to pull you away from important business,” I shrugged my shoulders. “I need your eyes, ears, and nose.”

“Hrn,” Gorgie forgave me and smoothly shot off toward the cave exit.

“Spirit?” I asked. “You there?”

“Yes,” he called back. “I don’t sense anything yet. No threats.”

“Help Gorgie then,” I ordered and watched the faint silhouette disappear into a stone wall.

Without a second’s delay, I went after my scouts.

The stone tunnel where I found myself had been hewn into the rock formation with no decorative elements. As a matter of fact, I got the impression the stone had been melted and molded into this totally smooth form. At the very least, I couldn’t see any pickaxe marks or anything like that.

The first thing I felt was fresh air blowing right into my face. Then I heard the spirit sounding surprised somewhere up ahead:

“Rick! You have to see this!”

I started running and, a few minutes later, found myself on a wide rocky outcropping, then had to cover my eyes with an arm. Because what I saw was blinding sunlight.

Chapter 22

WAIT. SUNLIGHT? How is there sun underground?!

I rubbed my eyes and looked around. At the foot of the rock wall I was standing atop, I saw the beginning of a huge desert. It stretched far beyond what I could see. Like a brownish yellow ocean with waves of sand frozen into it.

Gorgie and I traded glances.

“Hrn?”

“I don’t get it either, brother. We were promised an underground city. Not an endless desert.”

“It’s a mirage,” the spirit piped up. “An illusion… very high quality and lifelike.”

My brows crept up.

“Are you saying we’re actually underground?”

“No idea,” the spirit muttered. “But as for whether that ‘desert’ is coming from a powerful spell, there can be no doubts.”

“The sun is just scorching,” I shook my head and placed a hand to my forehead.

“Look!” the spirit exclaimed. “I can see some ruins up ahead!”

I looked and nodded.

“That’s right. They look a lot like fortress walls… But they’re buried far beneath the sand. Go see what’s there.”

“I can’t,” the spirit replied a few seconds later, perplexed. “There’s a magic shield that won’t let me through. You have to go first.”

I frowned.

“Ugh, I thought we already did the test.”

“Well, looks like we’ve got another,” the spirit stated the obvious. “Look at the ground beneath you. You see that?”

I lowered my head. It’s right. Ten paces from me on the ground, almost on the ledge itself, I could see the stone outline of a portal circle. I had seen something similar on the way up to the Citadel of Chaos’ viewpoint. Where I saw Ur the Crusher, its one-time gatekeeper.

I walked up closer and crouched down to get a better look at the stone pattern. Hm… A normal circle with a familiar star of fire in the center.

“Hrn?”

“I’ll have to recall you,” I replied to Gorgie, activating the amulet.

After that, I stood to my full height in the middle of the portal circle. Then, a moment later, a notification came before my eyes:

Greetings to you, descendant of the Knights of the Rift! I am the spirit keeper of the sanctuary created by the Lord of the Deep! You have expressed a desire to visit the Castle of the Knights of the Rift! Bear in mind that you will be completely safe while inside the shelter. You should also be aware that the castle is no place for higher beings! From the outset of your visit, you will no longer have the support of your mighty patron.

Do you accept that condition?

“Of course not!” Kera replied straight away. I could hear indignation in her voice.

“Yes, I accept,” I nodded.

“What?! But how could you…?”

Before Kera could finish, the sounds disappeared, and darkness came over me. But not for long.

The world around changed dramatically. I found myself standing in the midst of a grand garden in full bloom. Snow-white marble columns, elegant fountains, flowerbeds, neatly trimmed bushes, birdsong, a pleasant fresh breeze ruffling through my hair.

I gulped, then looked down at my feet. The very same portal circle, just expertly carved into light pink marble.

“Now this is no illusion,” the spirit whispered, stunned.

I heard a delicate cough behind me, and quickly turned.

It was a tall thin man around sixty years of age. He had a beaming smile on his smoothly shaven aristocratic face. In his gray eyes, I could see genuine happiness.

“Greetings, gentlemen!” he said with a bow. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Edu. I am the spirit gatekeeper of this castle.”

The stranger had a pleasant somewhat muted baritone voice. And as an aside, he spoke the common Imperial tongue with a barely noticeable Tarian accent.

“Hello, Edu,” I greeted him with a short nod. “My name is Eric Bergman. I hope I haven’t upset you.”

“Come now, Mister Bergman!” Edu threw up his arms. I could read fear in his gray eyes. “I am here to serve all Knights of the Rift, as well as their descendants and help them find shelter in this castle!”

“Forgive my ignorance, Edu,” I said. “But I’ve never heard of the Knights of the Rift before. In my world, people like me are called ‘descendants of the ancients’ or ‘the departed.’“

The man shuddered and went pale.

“So, they left that world,” he whispered thoughtfully.

“Centuries ago,” I nodded.

Edu looked up at me, and I gave a sad smile.

“In any case, Mister Bergman, my task is to help the descendants of those great heroes.”

“Call me Eric,” I asked.

“As you like, Eric,” the gatekeeper bowed again.

I looked around and said:

“You’re doing a great job. Whoever left you here knew what they were doing.”

Edu blushed and slightly splayed his shoulders. He appreciated my praise. I hope he isn’t going to rope me into some all-important task like Sly Redtail had once done.

“From the outside, this place looks different,” I started and touched the soil carefully. “My assistant said the desert and ruins in the sand are an illusion.”

“That is true,” the gatekeeper nodded eagerly. “The Lord of the Deep cast that spell himself. I meanwhile am here to maintain it in flawless working order. But alas, I cannot tell you more because I do not know myself. The creator of this place made it that way on purpose for security.”

“I see,” I nodded and scratched the back of my head. Smart. “And do you also not know exactly what part of the world this place is in?”

“Alas,” Edu shrugged his shoulders. “My task is to safeguard this place and greet travelers. Then to provide them with everything they might need for their travels.”

I fell silent, thinking through the new information. Whoever created this sanctuary had definite foresight. By the way, I did actually feel safe. The gatekeeper did not seem threatening.

“I like it here,” the spirit gave a review. “We’re safe here. I say we settle down! Plus, that vile goddess is gone!”

I snorted and glanced at the dark mark. It had not disappeared, but it was dimmer. After that, I checked all my spells and supplies. All there. But so was the renegade curse. I was temporarily rid of the goddess’ attention, but not her mark.

“Mister…” the gatekeeper started but had a change of mind when I hit him with a stare and corrected him: “Uh… Eric, you must be tired and hungry from the journey.”

“Alas,” I shook my head. “We’re in a hurry.”

After I said that, Edu and my spirit both gave crushed sighs.

“But don’t be afraid,” I smiled. “I have good news for you. I intend to open a passage here for a good friend. She and her family need a new home. They will need your help.”

Edu’s face blossomed.

“Are they all descendants of Knights of the Rift?”

“No,” I shook my head and saw the look on Edu’s face disappear.

“But then how do you intend to bring them here?” he asked with surprise.

“That’s my concern,” I waved. “There’s something else bothering me, though.”

“What might that be?” asked the gatekeeper.

“What kind of reception they’ll have when they get here,” I replied, staring into Edu’s eyes. “You probably have some kind of instructions on that account.”

Edu considered it for a moment, then, looking around at the garden, replied:

“My task is to take in all those who come here and provide them with help.”

“Great,” I said, perking up.

The old woman was right. With my help and also using the divine artifact, she could get around the security system left by the location’s creator and get in without having to pass any ancient blood tests. The gatekeeper here then had been created to serve, not defend. Still, most likely things are not as simple as they seem. But well, that was no longer my problem. I only had to uphold my end of the bargain.

I took a look around. Ah… The spirit was right. An excellent location! I also like it here. Speaking of that…

“I’d like to take a look at the castle before I leave.”

“Oh!” Edu exclaimed cheerfully. “I’d be delighted to take you on a tour! What are you most interested in?”

“The treasure chamber,” I replied immediately.

* * *

“Rick!” the spirit exclaimed. “This… This… I have no words!”

And I didn’t blame it. I was no less astounded. We were standing in the middle of a big wide room lit by hundreds of magic lanterns, staring wide-eyed at its contents.

No matter where I looked, all I could see were chests, boxes, crates, and bins of various sizes filled with gold and silver coins, gems, and other precious minerals.

“All this treasure belongs to you, Eric,” Edu said with a smile, pointing around the room:

“You are the first descendant of the Knights of the Rift to visit the sanctuary in centuries. All of this can be used as you see fit.”

Ahem… This is a far cry from the half-empty arsenal rooms of the Order of Monster Hunters. The knights Edu is constantly referring to must have been very well off.

I looked at the chests and could not believe my eyes. It’s just not real! It has to be a trick! But strange as it may have been, it was not. This sanctuary really was created for people like me. The spirit had already studied the whole library, which contained lots of information about the location. Honestly though, most of the manuscripts were written in an unknown language. Not enough Mind to read them. My biggest regret was not investing enough into that characteristic.

The knights were also mentioned in a few of the manuscripts. The spirit said that my forebearers travelled from world to world, closing something called “rifts” between the worlds of mortals and gods. And they went after Dark gods just as much as Light ones. The latter were not all kind and cuddly. When the spirit told me that, I smiled. Easy to believe. The gods are arbitrary beings. They basically do not care about us mortals. I should know.

These knights must have been somehow similar to the Monster Hunters. Except they fought the gods, while my old Order held back otherworldly onslaughts.

“Rick!” the spirit cried out excitedly. “We cannot give this place to the kobolds! Just look how much stuff there is!”

“I promised,” I answered calmly.

“Eleven million gold coins! Three million silver! Diamonds, rubies, emeralds! Eric! You could buy half the world with all this money! There’s both an arsenal and a laboratory! I also found nearly two hundred thousand Sparks of the Otherworld. Elixirs, potions, combat spheres! Weapons and armor! Obviously, a lot of it doesn’t fit your level, but some of the artifacts you can use. And you want to leave all this to a blind old bat?! I mean, now we also have fourteen golems. We could bring them here. We cannot give this sanctuary away to anyone. I’m sure we’ll be able to find somewhere else for the old woman to bring her brood.”

“A promise is a promise,” I had to repeat and add firmness to my voice. “And as for the treasure, Lu-Moa has never been interested in gold or artifacts. I’m sure she’ll help us bring all this wealth wherever we ask.”

Edu had spent all that time listening in silence, but never stirred. My spirit explained that the gatekeeper, despite his apparent humanity, was in fact quite basic and to a certain point one-dimensional. His creator had only endowed him with basic functions and raised a few parameters in the Mind branch an insignificant amount. As an aside, I’m starting to suspect that the ghost of Sly Redtail I met in Stonetown was none other than a spirit keeper.

Why not? It’s a viable theory. Before dying or fleeing to another world, some magister left behind a spirit with the appearance of one of their associates, then gave it a couple simple instructions. To induct new arrivals into the Hunters, teach them to seal portals, then explain how the reputation rating system works. The spirit meanwhile simply has to observe, giving the newcomer a chance to prove their worth. As soon as a worthy Hunter had been found, one of the spirit’s rules triggered and the spirit disappeared for good.

If that was right, there was no telling what kind of rules had been drilled into Edu’s head. But so far, everything is fine. Let’s see what happens after Lu-Moa gets here.

“I’m doing it now,” I said calmly.

“Rick…” the spirit made a final attempt, but I stopped it.

“I’m doing it now.”

Accompanied by Edu, I left the treasure chamber into the fresh air and took a look at the garden in full bloom all around me. Birds singing. The artificial sun caressing my face tenderly with its soft rays.

He said the shelter was actually the size of a small town and surrounded by an impenetrable magic shield. As for the shield’s nature, there was no way of telling. Perhaps it was another world, or perhaps a thick rock wall like the matriarch said. In any case, the kobolds would be safe here.

I went down into the garden, chose a little clearing and activated Lu-Moa’s amulet. I was just barely able to hear my spirit grumbling in dismay.

Nothing happened for a little while. And I’d already started thinking the spirit’s dream would come true when, ten paces away from me, a portal arch lit up in midair and the matriarch came strolling out.

When the portal closed behind her, she said cheerfully:

“You actually did it!”

I just smiled back and shot a glance at Edu, who was standing nearby observing the new arrival closely. He wasn’t displaying any aggression.

“If only you knew how long I’ve been looking for this place!”

The old woman was jubilant. She kept turning her blind head all around sniffing greedily.

“I have kept my promise. And there was something I wanted to discuss with you.”

The old woman, not hearing me, kept sucking in air greedily. She got down on all fours and started tearing through turf with her clawed paws. She was constantly muttering to herself. She looked a lot like the other kobolds, having totally lost the minor aspect of her appearance that made her seem distantly human.

“What a delight!” she muttered, rasping. “Amazing defenses! Nobody these days could do this. They were master craftspeople!”

After that, as if returning to her senses, she twitched and turned her blind head in my direction.

“You say something?”

“I…”

“You don’t have to say anything,” she snorted, standing to her feet. “You want to keep all the treasures that are here. Am I right?”

“Yes,” I answered. “And I need your help bringing them up to the surface. Same with all the golems we found in the temple.”

I intentionally mentioned the temple and golems to test the old woman’s reaction. But she had none. She must have been too excited. What if she knew all this perfectly well, and that was why she wasn’t surprised?

“Stupid human,” she chuckled and started pacing around me slowly. “You’re just like the rest of your kind. You call those pathetic gold coins and shimmering rocks ‘treasure,’ when the real treasure is this location. You must not fully understand what I have done. With your help, I have made it past the ultimate defense.”

“Well, it wasn’t just my help,” I snorted. “Without the divine artifact, it would never have worked. Charon’s Amulet? Isn’t that right?”

When I mentioned the artifact, the old woman shuddered and stopped moving. She was standing at an angle that made the sun come blaring straight into my face.

“Has that vile brute spilled the beans yet?”

Lu-Moa’s voice shifted. I heard a menacing edge.

“I assume you’re not planning to let me out of here alive then?” I asked with deliberate levity almost casually as I placed my right foot into the old woman’s shadow.

“You’re only getting that now?” she giggled with her croaking laughter. Meanwhile, her shadow slowly started to grow.

The old woman seemed to have activated an avatar. Her body sprouted bundles of thick muscle armor. Bony outgrowths appeared on her chest and shoulders.

“You didn’t really think I would forget that you slew my children, did you? And let you leave here knowing that at any moment you could reveal the existence of this location to others? And to help drag all your junk up to the surface. Are you really that stupid? How could someone so stupid have been supreme magister of the Order of Hunters just a few short months ago?!”

The woman broke down laughing.

“So, you were helping Alrak all along?” I asked calmly, preparing for a dust-up. “And Brown didn’t escape?”

“I actually told you the truth about that,” she snorted. Her voice sounded muted, as if she were inside a barrel. “That sly fox made it away one day before the lich arrived. And I am not stupid enough to link up with necromancers. But what does that matter now?”

She growled and got back down on all fours. There were just twenty steps between us.

“By the way,” she growled derisively. “Don’t try summoning your pets! Ha-ha! It’ll never work! Wherever you see one divine artifact, there’s sure to be another few!”

Contrary to the old woman’s advice, I still spent a few moments trying to activate the amulets, but it didn’t work.

Meanwhile, the avatar finished turning Lu-Moa into a huge hideous brute, who then came racing my way.

I stood calmly, not moving a muscle. And when the creature’s shadow had swallowed me up completely, I activated Shadow Curse, investing a thousand points of dark energy.

The system immediately reported the attack a success and said it was a crit.

Before Lu-Moa could take ten steps, she was struck by a full-body shiver, then stumbled and crashed to the ground, forming a deep ditch with her hideous head.

Ruddy red blood came pouring from her ears, nose, and mouth. With a few coughs, the matriarch spat up chunks of bloody flesh. And just lied there, not moving and rasping out loudly. Gradually, her body started to shrink. It made her look like an old beat-up doll so over-loved by a toddler it had to be thrown out.

“You called me stupid,” I said, crouching low over her ear. “But you have just lost yourself a powerful ally and friend. You know what the Dark goddess kept telling me? To kill you and take Charon’s Amulet for myself. I brushed her off like a bothersome fly. That amulet really would have made my life easier, though. Still, as a good friend, I was thinking first and foremost about you and your children. Stupid? Maybe so. But I’m not the one all caked in mud and lying in a pool of my own blood right now. And the worst part is that you were so close to securing a future for your people.”

The matriarch rasped again, straining to tell me something, but unable to squeeze anything out of her toothy maw other than bloody vomit. Ahem… I must give Lu-Moa her due. Even after such a heavy blow, she was still clinging to life. Still, I remembered what happened to the rock after I used the same spell. It scared me to imagine what the old woman’s internal organs looked like.

No longer wanting to watch her torment, I activated Dark Arrow and, boosting it with a few hundred points of Dark energy, cast it at the dying old woman’s head. And an instant later, victory and loot notifications came flickering before my eyes.

Waving off the messages in annoyance, I crouched down next to Lu-Moa’s body and breathed a heavy sigh. And for a moment I really believed I again had an ally.

Chapter 23

THE SPIRIT’S VOICE distracted me from the dismal thoughts:

“Rick… Rick… You hear me?”

“What? Yes… I do now.”

I looked around at the landscape in full bloom, then focused on the opaque silhouette of my spirit helper.

“Uh… Listen,” it started embarrassedly. It could clearly sense my lousy mood. “She left you with no choice. She wanted to kill you.”

“I know,” I muttered and rubbed my face frantically. “But still, it feels lousy. After all, I was honest with her and truly considered her, if not a friend, then a trusted ally to be sure.”

“She must have had a different opinion,” the spirit said. “I didn’t like her from the get-go.”

I snorted. If I were to treat everything that scared him with suspicion, I’d end up like our neighbor lady Mrs. Milanya, constantly seeing horrifying ghosts around every corner in my old age. For the last few years of her life, the old woman didn’t so much as poke her nose out her front door. If not for neighbors regularly bringing her food, she’d have starved to death. After her passing, they figured out she had a nephew. A sly little character with a rat-like face. He popped up out of nowhere and quickly started handling the paperwork for his inheritance.

Our few neighbors who ever got a chance to talk to him all agreed that there was something off about this nephew. As if there was a chance he had a hand in Milanya losing her mind. In fact, as it turned out, she wasn’t even all that old. She hadn’t even made it to her sixty-fifth birthday, which was around two months away at the time of her death.

The rumor was that her nephew had gotten in touch with a witch, who cast a curse on Milanya. My parents were skeptical about those rumors. I meanwhile, in light of what happened to me recently, was now inclined to believe the old wives’ tales.

Strange as it may have been, the sudden flood of memories helped me come back to my senses. I immediately felt the spirit’s impatience. It had some news it was practically bursting to share.

“Spit it out,” I waved. “Shoot.”

“I discovered two divine artifacts on the matriarch’s body!” the spirit reported cheerily. “Charon’s Amulet, as Kera said. And Eris’ Medallion.”

“I assume the medallion’s magic was why I couldn’t summon my pets?”

“Yes,” the spirit responded. “See for yourself.”

Two artifacts appeared on my hand. The first, as Kera said, was a sliver of wood with a small opening for a thread in the middle. Wearing it as a necklace, I wouldn’t have to worry it might attract unwanted attention. Only mages with high Mind scores or magic senses would be able to recognize it as a divine artifact.

Charon’s Amulet

― Type: Transportation magic

― Rarity: Divine

― Description:

― A divine artifact created by Charon. Allows the wearer to open portals to any point in the world unimpeded provided they have been there before or were summoned by a signal amulet.

― Warning!

― Number of signal amulets (5)

― Expends 5000 mana points

― Has no weight. Takes no space.

I rubbed my chin. Now I could see why Kera was so insistent I kill the matriarch. This amulet truly was priceless!

I just had to figure out how to use it.

“I have to run a test,” I said out loud, then activated the amulet.

Not a second later, an arch appeared before me with vague outlines of stone walls lit by green moss on the other side. The image was blurry as if I were looking through water. But most importantly, it was recognizable.

“Is that level six of the temple where we left the golem’s body?” the spirit asked.

It was hovering opposite the arch, staring intently into the portal. At least I thought that was what it was doing. I could not see its face. I turned to look at Edu, who was watching the proceedings curiously. That reminds me…

“Listen,” I turned to the spirit. “Why do you look like a ball of opaque fog? After all, you could make a body like Edu. Uh… Or what is that called for spirits…?”

“I could,” it called back. “But what for? First of all, it’s quite a costly procedure. It takes a whole two thousand sparks of the otherworld!”

I whistled. Quite the price.

“So, there you go,” the spirit confirmed. “And secondly, I like it like this. And third, I haven’t yet come up with a form I would like to take. As you can see, with prices like that, I want to be sure before making a decision. Or do you want me to have a shell?”

“No,” I shook my head. “Just asking.”

Beyond that, two thousand sparks! Its more than half of what the spirit needed to repair three golems. No thank you! Let it fly around looking like a wisp of fog.

“That’s what I mean,” the spirit came, reading my thoughts correctly, then changed the topic. “How’d you figure out the amulet?”

“It’s actually quite simple,” I replied, staring into the arch. “When I activated the artifact, images from the past started popping into my head all on their own. Or rather, of locations where I’d been before. I realized straight away that I would only have to think back on a familiar location, and bam. You see…”

“I do,” the spirit replied and added thoughtfully: “I haven’t sensed a mana outflow yet. That means the passage is not fixed. Try thinking of somewhere else.”

I thought of Orchus’ city park, and the arch lit up. I saw the outlines of trees, bushes and a pond. All in shades of yellow and red. Autumn. I felt a slight twinge in my chest. My parents and I used to walk around there when I was little.

“No mana use that time either,” the spirit commented. “Excellent!”

What it was saying brought me to my senses, and I deactivated the portal arch.

“This artifact alone was worth taking down that hideous old woman!” the spirit exclaimed excitedly but went soft in my tough stare.

Shaking my head, I snorted and turned to look at the second artifact I got as “inheritance” from Lu-Moa.

Eris’ Medallion

― Type: Darkness Magic

― Rarity: Divine

― Description:

― A divine artifact allowing the wearer to place the goddess Eris’ curses on an opponent. Blocks all summoning magic used by opponents for one hour.

― Warning:

― Expends 10,000 mana points

― Has no weight. Takes no space.

Now I get how the old woman was able to keep me pet-less. Honestly though, it wasn’t much help.

“What incredible loot!” the spirit exclaimed in delight, but then added grumbling: “It’s just a shame there was no iridescent tablet.”

I read the victory notification again. Despite my opponent not being particularly high level, the Great System granted me a great deal of esses and three kinds of tablets. After all, she was matriarch of a whole kobold tribe. But I did in fact not get an Iridescent.

“No Dark Fury, either,” I said.

“Now that makes perfect sense,” the spirit said. “Kera is not with you now, meaning you cannot gain her energy.”

“Ah,” I said, slapping myself across the knees.

Then I stood to my full height and surveyed my new holdings with a sense of ownership for the first time, pausing to look at Edu, who hadn’t let out a word the whole time. Looks like the spirit is right. The sanctuary gatekeeper isn’t quite as “intelligent” as my keeper. Oh well, we could at least use the rules embedded into him.

“Edu,” I said to the gatekeeper with a smirk. “You mentioned rest and a meal. I think I could use both right about now.”

The gray-haired gatekeeper gave a broad smile and said:

“Right this way, Eric! While dinner is getting ready, I’ll show you our hot spring and bathing pools.”

* * *

“Done!” the spirit reported back. “This is the last one. You can close the portal!”

I was standing in the middle of the main treasure chamber, where the golem bodies had been laid out in neat rows. Coal then set it down, having served as a draught horse with his increased strength, which made all the hauling feel more like a game to him than work.

Sparky also helped us haul the golems. In fact, the brother-sister pair were competing. Overall, they made it as fun as they could. They were basically still children.

The spirit was watching them work closely, and even at times tried giving them pointers, but it was no use. The snakes obeyed only me. I then watched it all with a supportive smile. Let them frolic. And so they did, accompanied by the spirit’s grumbling.

While the whipsnakes handled the “hard” work, Gorgie was racing around the temple hunting down the small scavengers making tentative outings from their burrows.

For the most part, they were small fry, between levels eight and ten, and they scattered when we showed up. Just think. Only a year ago, when Gorgie and I were prowling the caverns of the Crooked Mountains, such high-level monsters could have easily killed us. But now they were just low-level small fry.

While the golem bodies were being hauled out, Kera also tried to push her way through the portal arch. And when she failed, she cursed out loudly and threatened me with harsh punishments. Honestly though, she later realized that was no way to talk to me and switched to pleading and begging.

“Don’t get me wrong, mortal!” she admonished me. “Your foes are powerful and merciless. Without my support, you’ll be no match for them! But I also need power just like you. How can you not understand that? Foolish, hard-headed mortal! Oh, forgive me! Help me and I’ll help you. You want to make a blood oath? Alright, alright… Don’t laugh. I had to try. Get back here. I’ll be waiting!”

And so it went every time I opened a portal. She would start with curses and threats then flip to pleading and promises.

After I closed the portal, the spirit dove headfirst into work. Before that, it promised me that with so many sparks, it could now not only restore the three golems, but also enhance them. In the end, I decided not to interfere and went off to take a look at the treasure chamber. After all, yesterday, I didn’t get a good look at it. To be honest, I didn’t particularly care to.

After the fight with Lu-Moa, the gatekeeper took me over to the bathhouse, which was fed by a hot spring. There, I spent a few hours soaking in the hot water and washing the dirt, sweat, and blood off my body.

After that, in the castle’s main room, I found a royal repast awaiting me with dozens of kinds of dishes and beverages. By the end, when I was full, Edu brought me to the chambers where I spent the whole night sleeping peacefully. Before my eyelids closed though, I realized that whoever created this place must have been a truly great mage. I did not want to think about how they accomplished so much. All I needed to know was that I could avail myself of all the luxuries afforded to me here by blood right. Honestly though, a thought kept flitting around in my mind. What if someone else with blood of the ancients comes here? How could we split up all these riches? But I swatted those thoughts away like a bothersome fly. The chance of something like that happening was too low. Or rather, exactly zero.

I woke up early the next morning well rested. After a big tasty breakfast, I started putting my plan into action, its general outlines having come together in my mind yesterday during the downtime.

The golems now were in the sanctuary. The spirit had started performing sorcery on them while I strolled through the huge treasure chamber between chests filled with gold and silver.

“Milord,” Edu said, hot on my heels. “Would you perhaps like to visit the Hall of the Knights of the Rift?”

I stopped, turned and squinted at the gatekeeper.

“But Edu, are you going to try to recruit me into the mysterious order? Or get me to run off and save some world from ancient invaders?”

“No, no,” Edu threw up his hands and his eyes widened. “Come now, milord!”

“Just so you know, I do not intend to become part of any such organization,” I snorted. “I’m full up. I just want to finish what I’ve started and live the rest of my life in peace. So, you see, I am not eager to burden myself with any new obligations. Especially given these knights were not formed to oppose any old person, but the gods themselves. That’s all well and good for you, but the last thing I want is a quarrel with the gods.”

“Yes, yes,” Edu nodded hurriedly. “I wasn’t even thinking of it. I’ve just heard that you’ll have to fight some very dangerous opponents, so I wanted to show you the Hall of the Knights of the Rift.”

“What’s in there, anything worth my while?”

“To my eye, yes. But you won’t be able to use it all…”

“I see,” I chuckled. “Reputation or something like that?”

“Not exactly,” the gatekeeper replied, nodding his gray head. “There are only two limitations.”

“Blood is the first,” I guessed. “But what’s the second?”

“No patron deity,” Edu replied with a significant glance at my mark.

“I see,” I nodded thoughtfully. “Fair enough. The Knights of the Rift cannot serve any gods because, at some point, their patron deity might manipulate them.”

“Exactly right,” Edu replied.

“Was it your creator who ordered you to educate newcomers?”

“Yes, milord.”

“I see,” I sighed. “Oh well, then bring me to the hall. Let’s see what I can use.”

To tell the truth, despite my calm demeanor, I was very shaken. I had just been told to proceed to the castle’s holiest of holies, but here I was turning up my nose. On the other hand, though, I really was no longer intending to become part of any order or anything like one. Enough. I want peace.

I’m young. Fabulously wealthy. I want to travel the world. And not knee-deep in mud, fighting my way through hordes of monsters but in comfort, dining twice a day in fancy restaurants and staying in expensive hotels. I wanted a house, and not just one, a few. Preferably in several countries. To see my friends…

I shook my head. I had just one last thing to do – survive…

“Please, milord,” Edu said with a smile, inviting me to proceed into another hall, smaller than the one before it.

I nodded and crossed the threshold. Slowly looking around, I smiled. All around, no matter where I looked, there were shelves of boxes and bins with lids and sides bearing the fire star symbol.

“These are potions, spheres and scrolls,” Edu said, noticing I was staring. “Over by the wall are weapons and ammunition. Over there are armor stands.”

Smiling, I turned my head all around to see the treasure.

“That table over there has artifacts,” Edu said and went forward after waving a hand to beckon me.

I obeyed happily and followed after the gatekeeper, who was already standing next to a wide wooden table with carved legs.

“Look here, milord,” he said, holding a small box. “You see, I am aware of your predicament with the blocked spells. So, I made up my mind to offer you this artifact.”

I glanced inside the box. On a dark blue velvet pillow, there lay a bronze fibula shaped like a fire star.

I looked closely, then tried to see a description, but there was nothing.

“Alas, at present, you cannot use this artifact,” Edu stated.

“I cannot even read its description.”

“That’s right,” the gatekeeper nodded. “Second condition. Remember? You have a patron goddess. But as soon as you get rid of her, uh… look around, everything you see in this hall will be at your disposal.”

“There must be a lot of interesting magic artifacts here,” I replied. “But alas, it isn’t enough. I won’t argue. Most likely, all these scrolls and elixirs are very effective, just like the weapons and armor but, as I said, it isn’t enough. Beyond that, I suspect all the best stuff has been taken by my predecessors.”

I could see in Edu’s eyes that I was right.

“You think it makes me happy to have a dark goddess always looking over my shoulder?” I gave a wry smile. “My enemies are very powerful and bloodthirsty creatures. Without Kera’s help, I won’t be able to defeat them.”

“I understand, milord,” the gatekeeper nodded and sighed in disappointment.

“Alright,” I waved a hand and smiled. “At the very least, you tried to help. And I really have to thank you for that! And by the way, I still want to know. What was that artifact?”

“A Harmony fibula,” Edu replied eagerly, puffing out his chest and adding: “Created by the Lord of the Deep himself. The most valuable artifact in the castle.”

“Is that so?” I asked with doubt in my voice. “And why is the artifact still here? My predecessors not want it?”

“All those who came before you were already Knights of the Rift,” Edu responded, ignoring the skeptical edge in my voice.

“So what?”

“All Knights of the Rift already have fibulas like that one. Which is why they can use spells from various schools and paths, some of which conflict with one another. Just like you, milord.”

I got on guard.

“Are you saying that if I put on that artifact, I’d be able to use all my spells again?”

“Yes,” the spirit replied with a broad smile.

Chapter 24

“READY?” I ASKED and glanced at my little warband.

The whipsnakes and harn I had brought up to level eighty. I could have gone higher but was holding back a reserve for myself. I still had a temporary growth sphere in my backpack awaiting its hour. Still, to be frank, I was still in no particular hurry to bring up my own level. The loot I got for being zero was just so nice it hurt. My pets had reaped a rich harvest of esses and tablets in the temple.

Our party also gained members. The spirit kept its promises. It restored and modernized three golems. Honestly though, it had spent almost twelve thousand sparks and a good number of fragments, but it was worth it. The effectiveness of the stone guardians had risen by approximately twenty-five percent. I’m sure whoever created them would have praised my incorporeal servant and keeper.

We ended up having to spend five days in the Knights of the Rift sanctuary. That was how long the spirit needed to mess with the golems. I meanwhile was enjoying absolute quiet for the first time in months. I swam in the crystal-clear pond. Basked in the rays of the artificial sun. I ate my fill of all kinds of the tasty grub Edu fed me. And of course, I made plans. And today, after a long discussion with the spirit, I was finally ready to get started on part one of my scheme.

“So, you’re actually going to do it?” the spirit asked fatedly.

It was hovering in midair a few paces away from the portal arch.

“Yes,” I replied firmly.

“What about the Knights of the Rift arsenal?” the spirit made another attempt.

I sighed wearily. Back to the classics. So much had been said, but it just keeps pushing its line. What a cowardly servant I got stuck with. Still, maybe it’s for the best. Maybe one day it really will end up preventing me from doing something rash. But not this time. Now, I was more confident than ever.

“Well, let’s say I get rid of Kera’s mark, what then?” I asked.

Let it try to convince me. After all, I was not married to my plan. It was the most intimidating one I’d come up with in fact. But I needed ironclad arguments. That was the only way.

“The Great System would rid you of the renegade label,” the spirit replied eagerly. “Sure, then you wouldn’t be able to use the spells Kera granted you. But you would have the fibula!”

“The fibula would be great, I won’t argue. But without Kera, or rather, her energy, I won’t be able to fill the fury supply. And without dark fury, I won’t be able to defeat Egbert and Alrak.”

The spirit said nothing. And what could it say? I was right. As much as I might have wanted to stay away from the bloodthirsty being, I would still have to rely on her support.

“She’s sure to deceive you,” the spirit said darkly.

“Listen,” I smiled, “here’s what I’ve been thinking…”

“What now?” the spirit asked, cautious.

Seemingly, my smile bothered it.

“Look at Edu,” I nodded at the gatekeeper, listening closely to our conversation. “Unlike you, he has a name.”

“Yeah, so what?”

“We’ve been together for so long, but still I don’t know yours.”

“How could you? You were supposed to give me one,” the spirit snorted.

“Ah, so that’s it!” my smile grew even wider.

“Rick, what are you planning?” the spirit bleated.

“You know,” I snorted. “In the place where I was born and raised, they said a person’s name determines their nature, their essence.”

“Oh yeah?” the spirit asked dubiously. “And what does your name mean, for instance?”

I snorted.

“The name Eric came to us from Darta. What it means is ‘mightiest, or first among the mighty.’ Almost every northern king or jarl bore the name Eric. Just imagine how much I got made fun of as a pathetic, weak zero because of that name. Basically, my parents had a sense of humor.”

“Or maybe they could see your true nature from the very beginning,” Edu came suddenly. “Who better to know what their son was really capable of?”

I shuddered but said nothing. I was wrong thinking the Lord of the Deep hadn’t invested much into Edu’s mind. Over the last few days, I had become convinced that the gatekeeper was vastly different than I thought on our first meeting.

The silence held for some time. I was the one to break it.

“You know, in light of what you just said, I’ve decided to give you a name. I’ll call you Lionheart!”

“A great name!” Edu smiled broadly.

The newly minted Lionheart muttered something to himself, but based on his vivid emotions, I could tell he liked his new name.

I smiled and rubbed my hands together.

“Well, now that it’s all settled, let’s get going! Edu, don’t think too badly of us! Keep the golems safe. We’re going to need them very soon.”

The gray-haired gatekeeper nodded and smiled.

“Don’t you worry, milord! And may the power of your ancestors always be with you!”

I waved goodbye and walked into the portal arch, and the rest of my little party followed after me.

* * *

Upon our return, level eleven of the Temple of Nyx and its dormant sacrificial altar greeted us with graveyard silence. Unlike the other levels, there were no hordes of little monsters here greedily chomping down the remains of our dead opponents.

“Finally!” Kera burst out angrily. “You sure took your sweet time!”

Her voice echoed off the temple’s unseen ceiling.

“Tell me about it,” I said calmly and slowly headed toward the sacrificial altar.

I had my hands folded behind my back as I did, making me look like I was just walking around calmly.

At first, Kera wanted to bark something back, but then it obviously hit her what exactly was happening.

An instant later, I felt a familiar kind of magic being used on me. The temple disappeared along with my pets. Kera had covered me with her silence spell.

She herself then appeared opposite me five paces away. I looked her from head to toe and laughed.

“Looks like our relationship has done you a lot of good.”

It really had. Kera was looking a lot better since our last “meeting.” Back then, she was also very pretty. But now… It was as if life had been breathed into her. Uh… If such a thing could be said about a dark eater of dead blood.

“Same to you,” Kera said with a smile on her crimson lips.

“So then,” I didn’t continue the verbal fencing contest.

“Have you made up your mind?!” a flame of impatience blazed in her black eyes.

“We’re wasting time,” I interrupted her.

I know I’m walking a razor’s edge, but I get the sense I’m doing the right thing. As a matter of fact, it’s the only right move. If I waffle or show weakness, I’ll be trampled.

“What do you want to know?” Kera turned serious.

“Everything you’re not telling me,” I said. “But you cannot. I know you weren’t lying last time. I’ve read some books on the matter.”

Well, actually the spirit did the reading, then retold me the condensed version. There really had been a pact between the gods, demons and their whole almighty fellowship. Mortals must choose who they serve of their own free will. And the gods are not allowed to interfere in the decision-making process. They could still try to bait potential followers, like Kera was doing now, but that was it. Basically, she was not lying the last time.

“But still, you can offer various enticements.”

“What I’ve given you already isn’t enough?” the goddess’ thin brows shot upward.

“Let’s just drop the whole act this time, okay?” I winced. “You and I both know perfectly well you got ahead of yourself. As a matter of fact, you haven’t had as much energy as I’ve given you over the last few months in a very long time.”

“You’re really changing,” she said angrily, staring at me. “Looks like you’re not the least bit afraid anymore!”

“This is what I was hoping to avoid,” I rolled my eyes and breathed a heavy sigh.

Then I pretended I wanted to turn around to go back. Away from the altar.

“Wait,” she muttered. “I get it.”

I glanced straight into her eyes.

“I really hope so. I don’t know whose patron goddess you’ve been before, but I hope you’ve realized by now that I am different.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she snorted. “I can see your knees quivering. Because you’re afraid.”

“Of course I am,” I didn’t wheedle, but did object: “But who’s the one talking about fear? I was talking about hard-headedness and lack of self-restraint. I don’t enjoy being manipulated. Especially so brutishly. But also, I don’t like it ever.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. Soon, you’ll be asking me to treat you as an equal. Did you bump your head in there?”

“No,” I shook my head. “But I did learn who I descend from.”

“So what?” Kera chuckled.

“I descend from a Knight of the Rift,” I squeezed out and practically sunk my gaze into Kera’s eyes.

I should note that the smile quickly left the goddess’ lips. An annoyed frown appeared in its place.

“So, you finally figured it out,” she hissed.

To be frank, it was a struggle to keep the stony expression on my face. What a pest! She already knows about the knights!

“Well, what stopped you from getting rid of my mark then?” she asked unexpectedly calmly. “Or have you realized you cannot succeed without me?”

“Or you without me,” I parried. “Now do you see what I’m driving at?”

“I do,” Kera answered with a fated sigh. “What do you want to know?”

“You said you could grant me power…”

“Have you decided to become my priest after all?” she asked mistrustfully, but I noticed some excitement.

“Not all at once,” I cooled her jets. “Let’s take it one day at a time. For example, starting with point one of your mission. How will you repay me for the altar?”

“Now that’s beyond the pale,” Kera hissed through her teeth, but very quickly got herself under control and replied: “If you dedicate the sacrificial altar to me, you can have a divine artifact.”

“Is that all?” I asked with notes of disappointment.

“A divine artifact not enough for you?”

“Of course!” I nodded without a blink. “First off, I don’t know what it will be. What if its worthless?”

“My sacrificial knife is not worthless!” Kera objected.

“Nor is my aid,” I nodded. “Beyond that, I’d be taking a big risk. Your momma is not likely to be happy to lose an altar. Even one so ancient and forgotten. That, by the way, is second.”

“Fair enough,” Kera snorted.

That sent a treacherous chill running down my spine. Maybe I’ve played enough games with the gods? I wouldn’t want to make an enemy of one of the most powerful gods in the dark pantheon.

“So you see,” I said, straining to remain calm.

“So, you haven’t forgotten the sacrifice?” Kera chuckled. “You cannot undergo a dedication ritual just like that. There has to be a sacrifice. Who have you decided to bleed out? One of the whipsnakes, or your tomcat? Let me say first, I’d rather the tomcat. He’s weaker than the snakes but means the most to you. I’d give a king’s ransom for a sacrifice like that!”

I clenched my teeth. What a brute. She knows my weak spot.

“You’re asking too much,” I replied coldly.

“Then what?” Kera kept smiling. “There has to be a sacrifice. And you don’t have anything else.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I feigned surprise. “Well, what about this?”

After saying that, I took a coal-black crystal out of my backpack while the goddess looked on in astonishment.

“The heart of a primordial!”

Her black pupils widened. Her nostrils twitched raveningly. She looked like an animal.

“Looks like you’d appreciate such a sacrifice,” I chuckled and stuck the artifact back in my pocket slowly so she could enjoy the spectacle.

Kera gulped and stared at me.

“Take a look.”

I lowered my head. I saw five little bloody brownish spheres the size of quail eggs perched on her delicate palm.

“What are those?”

“Archdemon blood,” she replied. “Each drop could double all your characteristics.”

“How long does it last? A minute? An hour?”

“What are you talking about, mortal?” Kera chuckled. “Have you forgotten who you’re talking to? They’re amulets.”

I gulped loudly. Amulets!

“Dedicate the altar to me and you can have one drop.”

“Three,” I said quickly.

“That’s too much,” she menaced with a thin little finger.

“You forget who I’m up against?”

“Accept the priesthood and you can have more,” Kera shrugged.

“You’re getting ahead of yourself,” I said, calmer. “After all, you’re probably flooded with divine power from the altar right now. What are those spheres to you?”

Kera shook her head and looked at me like a moron.

“Do you have the slightest idea, with your pitiful intellect, whose blood this is? Actually, who am I talking to…? Alright. Let’s say two drops. I’ll give you tablets and essences for your pets, too.”

“And an iridescent for me?” I made an attempt. Might as well push.

“You’ll do fine without,” Kera threw out and asked: “Well how about it? Shake on it?”

“Release me,” I nodded.

And an instant later, I was again standing in the middle of the temple, now a step away from the altar. I snorted. She moves quick. I specifically remembered being ten steps away from the sacrificial altar at least.

“Well, how’d it go?” the spirit was right on the scene.

“Okay,” I nodded.

“Just think it through,” he made a final attempt.

“Don’t be afraid, Lionheart!” I chuckled. “We’ll get through it!”

After saying that, I placed the primordial heart on the altar and loudly proclaimed to the whole hall that I was dedicating this sacrificial altar to the great goddess Kera, born of Shadow and Night.

“Yes!” Kera shrieked loudly, and that scream sent truly terrifying shivers down my spine.

That then was followed by a series of system notifications telling me that the supreme goddess Nyx had turned her eye on me. What could I say? I knew what I was getting into.

After that, the promised esses and three kinds of tablets appeared in my backpack. Beyond that, I saw a long knife on the flat surface of the altar with a straight narrow blade and two bloody brown spheres. She kept up her end of the bargain. Good.

I carefully accepted the goddess’ gifts and delved into their descriptions.

Sacrificial Knife of the goddess Kera

― Type: Ritual weapon

― Rarity: Divine

― Description:

― A divine artifact created from the bone of one of the lesser gods of the Ghost World

― Effect:

― Can penetrate any defenses

― Warning!

― Bearer of sacrificial knife must compensate for the breaking of opponent or victim’s defenses with their own life force. 1 point of defense = 1 point of life.

― Has no weight. Takes no space.

A dangerous item. Every point of defense would come at a cost of one life. Ahem… A high price for the ability to break through any armor.

What else…

Archdemon’s Blood Amulet

― Type: Enhancement.

― Rarity: Demonic.

― Description:

― An extremely rare demonic artifact made from the blood of the archdemon of a fallen world. Doubles all the bearer’s characteristics.

― Warning!

― Only one Archdemon’s Blood amulet may be used at one time.

― Has no weight. Takes no space.

Uh… The spirit warned me. She deceived me. Actually no. I deceived myself. I’d have to be more careful in the future. I would have to keep in mind that all of Kera’s gifts came with a catch. What else was I expecting from a being like her?

“Well, how do you like it?” Kera laughed happily. “You a fan of my gifts?”

I replied calmly, ignoring the spirit’s angry grumbling:

“I’ve learned my lesson.”

“Well, well. It’s not all so bad then!” Kera effused.

And why not? She got an altar and taught a lesson to an insolent mortal. Not bad. And all that before sundown!

“Now I need sacrifices!” she said in a demanding tone. “That was an old altar. It didn’t have very much energy. Your move, mortal!”

I remembered the spirit claiming it would be the opposite. Still, maybe it really wasn’t very much energy for a goddess.

“I see the power you pilfered from your momma has gone to your head,” I came acridly. “You heard me. I learned my lesson! I never should have linked up with you in the first place. You promised the moon… But it was just a waste of a valuable resource.”

“But you agreed to the terms!” Kera exclaimed with offense in her voice. “And what was your problem with my gifts?!”

I just snorted scornfully and activated Charon’s Amulet in silence. Time to get out of here, back to the surface. I’d been down there too long.

“Mortal!” Kera barked. “You’re out of line!”

Before stepping into the portal arch, I gave a chuckle and threw out:

“Get ready. Next time, it’ll really cost you.”

And an instant later, a cool moist air blew into my face. A thunderstorm had moved in over the gnomish mountains.

Chapter 25

I DIDN’T GET ANY TIME to admire the mountain landscape.

“We’re surrounded,” the spirit said apprehensively.

I took a look around. Over to the right, where the hunter castle had once been, I saw the inky blackness of the hole Alrak left behind. Beyond it, I could see the road to Stenborg, twisting like a mountain river between cliffs. Just a few days before, I had been right there talking to Lu-Moa…

After she died, I thought the kobolds would be done for, but I was wrong. Looks like her kids have come to get revenge for their mother.

“There are a lot of them,” the spirit said after a brief pause. “A whole lot. But they’re no rivals to us. Except maybe that big level-forty bruiser over there… But no… She’s too weak.”

Despite the spirit’s warning, I had yet to spot a single kobold. But no sooner did I switch to magic vision than I saw the cliffs around light up with a bright blue glow. At first, I couldn’t tell what was happening, but then it hit me ― there were so many kobolds that the energy structures in their bodies had essentially woven together.

I snorted… All the better. The more bunched the attackers, the worse for them.

But the kobolds were in no rush to attack. They were waiting.

“Looks like they want a parley,” came the spirit. “That must be their new queen.”

I nodded, mechanically correcting him.

“Matriarch.”

I had noticed her, too. I even shuddered at first because she looked so much like Lu-Moa. The white fur. Thick braids. Tusked face. Must have been one of my would-be ally’s older daughters. The old bat was probably preparing her to take her place. Makes perfect sense.

The closer the new matriarch came to us, the more I started to understand what the spirit said. She really was very weak. Or rather weakened. Her energy structure was dim and somewhat misshapen.

I didn’t see any wounds on her body. So what was it?

The spirit guessed first.

“Looks like she’s starving to death.”

I quickly looked around and frowned.

“She’s not the only one. Look at the others’ energy structures. The old woman was not lying – her tribe is on the verge of extinction.”

The spirit had no response. And what could he say? Lu-Moa had made her move, and the lives of all her children were riding on it. And she lost.

Meanwhile, the new matriarch climbed over a big boulder and stopped twenty paces from me.

“Greetings, great one!” she rasped. “My name is Lu-Tari.”

“Greetings, Lu-Tari,” I replied calmly, looking at my new acquaintance.

Now, up close, she didn’t look quite as much like Lu-Moa. Her fur was light gray, not white like I first thought. Teeth and tusks smaller. Narrower shoulders. Thin arms and legs. Ribs protruding. I got the feeling Lu-Moa had been starving them. The old woman didn’t look so gaunt.

“We can sense the amulet’s magic,” Lu-Tari stated. “And we thought our mother had returned.”

Oh no… So they still don’t know?!

Lu-Tari breathed in loudly and rasped back.

“My mother’s amulet is with you.”

Then she breathed in deeply through her nose again, and squeezed out with a hiss:

“Her blood is upon you!”

I saw movement on the cliffs out of the corner of my eye. I heard many voices roar, and claws scratch.

“What are they thinking?” the spirit asked derisively. “Maybe summon Coal? Have him give them a little singe.”

“No,” I answered and added: “Silence.”

“Lu-Moa is dead!” I announced loudly. “She broke our pact and tried to kill me! But I upheld my end of the bargain. I swear!”

My words made Lu-Tari shudder. The fur on the back of her neck stood on end. A chorus of moans ran down the cliffs.

For a short moment, Lu-Tari’s maw screwed up into a happy smile. And that was enough for me to realized that the former Mother of the Stoneheart Brood had not enjoyed her daughter’s love.

“Our mother is dead!” Lu-Tari growled. “Her murderer must die!”

The cliffs growled again.

“Stupid scavenger!” the avatar of darkness I’d activated a second earlier made my voice sound like an animal’s growl. “You dare threaten me?!”

I kicked the cliff I was standing in the shadow of, and a huge chunk of gray rock broke off and smashed to pieces.

Lu-Tari, not expecting things to go that way, shrieked and fell to the ground. In two bounding leaps, I covered the distance between us. Grabbing the new mother of the Stoneheart Brood by the scruff of her neck, I raised her up like a puppy that just peed on a rug and turned to the cliffs.

“Your mother betrayed me, then tried to kill me!” I barked, adding all my Will. “Now, she is dead! And now her daughter dares threaten me!”

I shook the quietly sobbing Lu-Tari.

“Might makes right, which means I could take her and all your lives!”

After saying that, I activated the summoning amulets, immediately crowding the cliff plateaus. Based on the brightly flashing energy structures, the appearance of Gorgie followed by that of the two giant whipsnakes made an impression on the kobolds. But I must give them their due – not a single one of the Stoneheart Brood turned and ran.

“Forgive me, Great One,” Lu-Tari squeaked and trembled in my clawed paw.

“What?!” I barked and put my left paw to my ear. “I can’t hear you?!”

“Forgive me, Great One!” the new matriarch exclaimed loudly. “Have mercy on me and my children!”

I chuckled. What a shifty brute. Even a hair away from death, she was still clever enough to proclaim her right to rule the brood. I had noticed another few large females among the cliffs. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out they were watching with bated breath, hoping for me to twist their sister’s neck.

These creatures understand only one language – power. The late Lu-Moa had once told me that clearly. That was why I decided to put the dramatics on overdrive. Just think. And here I was trying to rescue them despite their mom’s betrayal.

“What’s in it for me?” I growled out again. I was supported by a fearsome hiss and roar from my pets. “Leaving enemies behind your backlines is a bad idea! It would be simpler for me to just take you all out in one fell swoop!”

“No-o-o!” Lu-Tari shrieked and thrashed in my paw. “I beg you, do not kill me and my children! I will swear an oath of loyalty and serve you!”

“Not enough!” I answered.

“What do you want, Great One?”

“For your whole brood to swear an oath of loyalty!” I barked loudly and looked around at the now quiet cliffs.

“But…” Lu-Tari tried to object.

I shook her hard and threw her at Gorgie’s feet. The harn snarled and growled, placing a clawed paw on her chest and pressing her slightly to the ground. I heard a faint but distinct crunching sound.

Lu-Tari breathed a heavy sigh and winced. I hope Gorgie didn’t break anything.

To tell the truth, I didn’t like what was happening, but better this than to flood the cliffs with flame. The spirit could sense my emotions, so kept silent. Kera meanwhile was in seventh heaven.

“You’re not as hopeless as you seem!” she purred. “You’ll make a great priest! Honestly though, I don’t totally understand what you wanted with the scavengers in the first place.”

“Children of the Stoneheart Brood!” I addressed the cliffs loudly, ignoring the goddess. “Are you willing to swear loyalty to me?! Or do you choose death?!”

The cliffs responded with silence. The stick had done its job. Time to switch to the carrot.

“Lu-Moa betrayed me! And that is despite the fact that I upheld my end of the bargain and found a safe location for you to live! I can see that your brood is perishing! You have enemies all around! Your children are starving! I can save you!”

They stirred. Started mumbling.

“The place I promised Lu-Moa and the Stoneheart Brood is now mine! After her betrayal, you lost the right to it!”

A sigh of disappointment ran down the cliffs.

“But I have another place where you can be safe!” I continued. “And we left a lot of meat behind while clearing it of dangerous creatures! A huge amount of meat! And nobody can get there except me!”

A graveyard silence fell over the cliffs for a few minutes. Even Lu-Tari froze, no longer squirming under Gorgie’s paw. They must have been discussing my offer. Just the way they all fell silent. Must be some in-born ability to converse mentally. Nice!

“What scheme have you cooked up now?” Kera was indignant. “You thinking to move all these scavengers into my temple?”

“Exactly,” I replied with lips alone. “Or do you intend to clear the corpses and small predators from the underground temple yourself? And by the way, the temple is not yours just yet. The fact that it contains an altar to you does not make the entire temple your property. That whole subterranean structure is mine by right of conquest.”

“Mortal,” Kera’s voice was quiet and penetrating. And that put me on guard. “You’re out of line. After all, I could just give up on you and find myself a new follower. Someone more malleable. Remember, my patience is running thin.”

“As is mine,” I took the bait. “After all, I could get rid of your mark right now and give the altar back to your mother or father. Let’s see what will happen then.”

“Don’t you dare!” Kera hissed into my ear.

“You need power, right?” I changed the topic.

“What are you getting at?” she asked in surprise. The sudden shift in tone had knocked her slightly off course.

“The fact that you now have an altar after so many centuries languishing. And not any old altar. One that once belonged to your mother. I took the first step. Now what are you doing?”

“What?” Kera asked uncomprehendingly.

“Instead of supporting and praising me, you for some reason are constantly threatening me. Now I understand why nobody wanted to serve you. You are incapable of gratitude. A big difference from your mother or father. Or even that necromancer god. They all know how to properly thank their followers. Especially those like me. Meanwhile, I was able to clear the temple of demons by myself!”

“Well, not exactly all by yourself,” Kera muttered. “You’d never have pulled it off without your pets.”

“Yes, my pets!” I chuckled. “I earned them fair and square, risking my life in the process. Where will you find yourself another follower like me?”

Kera said nothing. And I no longer cared.

System notifications had started appearing before my eyes. The very first of them said that Lu-Tari, the new matriarch had sworn allegiance to me. And right after her came all her sisters, then a gushing river of messages came crashing down on me. The entire Stoneheart Brood had sworn its allegiance to me.

* * *

“Great one, did you call me?” Lu-Tari, the new matriarch bowed opposite me.

I cringed to myself, shaken by her obsequious tone but, alas, it was the only way. These creatures only obey the powerful. The only thing stopping me from putting an end to it all was a desire to help the kobolds live.

“Are all your children happy?” I asked, nodding toward the huge level ten hall where the Stoneheart Brood was currently feasting.

The spirit took action and counted all of them up. It got us around fifteen hundred including young ones. Only after the spirit told me their numbers did I realized what Lu-Moa had done when attacking our castle. Over three hundred kobolds had died in that battle. Was it maybe for the best that she passed? After all, she was clearly leading her brood to its demise. Even if she had been able to kill me in the shelter, the brood would very soon have had to leave. Too cramped. I think Lu-Moa was quietly getting rid of the weak, ill or elderly. Still, as I’d noticed over the last few days, there were plenty of elderly kobolds and no one was killing them. On the contrary, everyone treated them with respect despite their extreme hunger.

“Yes, great one!” Lu-Tari answered and smiled. “There’s a lot of tasty food here! Thank you, great one!”

Kera was right. Kobolds are scavengers. When I brought the whole brood into the underground temple, which reeked of dead meat, the first things the kobolds did was throw themselves on the rotting remains of the creatures we had slain. And they were moaning in delight as they did.

“As I said before, this place is your home now. I have slain all the dangerous beasts. The only ones left are low-level. There are a lot of them, though. I hope they won’t be a problem for you.”

“No, Great One,” the young matriarch shook her head. “It’s good to have so much game here. We will have plenty to eat. Beyond that, we found a lot of water and moss. This will make a great place for my brood. Here we can raise our young without having to worry about starvation or enemies.”

“That’s good,” I nodded. “As you know, the temple has been enchanted by the Lord of the Deep, so there is no exit…”

The matriarch’s lips slightly quivered at the corners. I chuckled to myself. It must not have been quite such a closed location. They had probably found a little burrow out, perhaps several. Still, why am I surprised? These are kobolds! I didn’t ask. They were supposed to have secrets. If I ever needed to know, I could force them to tell. Let her think she got one over on me.

Pretending not to notice her mistake, I continued:

“In any case, if you suddenly find yourself needing to exit, you can always call on me to help. Here!”

I extended her one of the five signal amulets.

“Thank you, Great One!” the matriarch accepted the amulet with a bow. “This is an honor for me!”

“And another thing… I know how much you value freedom.”

The matriarch twitched. The placating smile fell from her lips.

I snorted and continued.

“I am not planning to force you to seek gold veins or precious stones for me as the gnomes did. You may live in peace.”

“You do not want the treasures of the deep?” the matriarch asked, tilting her head to one side. She looked very much like her mother just then. It even sent a chill down my spine.

“Depends on your price,” I replied.

“Am I understanding you correctly, Great One? You will not force us to search for underground riches, but you do want them?”

“Let’s say I do,” I stroked my chin. “They might come in handy.”

I saw the matriarch wince. Like she’d just bitten into a sour plum.

“I know what you’re thinking,” I chuckled. “I lured you with promises of freedom, but I deceived you. It’s actually all rather simple. We can always come to mutually beneficial terms. That’s for one. And two, I will not force you to do anything you do not want to do.”

“I do not know what you can offer us,” the matriarch replied darkly. Still, I could see that she was deeply interested in a mutually beneficial relationship.

“You never know…” I shrugged. “For instance, I showed you this place. What if I find something else useful to share with you?”

Lu-Tari tilted her head to one side again.

“I hear you and understand, Great One.”

Perfect. There was nothing sycophantic about her tone. Or hostile. Good sign.

I had seen that she wanted to ask me something but wasn’t feeling up to it. Most likely, she wanted to find out what use I had for her brood if not to search for gold and precious stones. But thankfully, she didn’t ask. She never would have believed my answer.

I mean, how could she? I myself didn’t totally understand why I’d gone to such lengths. I only knew one thing for certain – I did not have to kill them.

“Uh… Great One,” Lu-Tari’s rasping voice pulled me from my thoughts.

“I’m listening.”

“I overheard you talking to your servant and saying you don’t know how to get into the gnomish city.”

I shuddered and perked my ears.

“Yes, you are correct. I have to get into Stenborg. I could use the amulet, but I’m not sure what I’ll find on the other side of the portal arch.”

“It’s a big risk,” the young matriarch nodded. “The mountains are teeming with undead beasts. Not to mention the gnomish city, may the abyss swallow them up!”

“So, you must have had a reason for starting this conversation with me.” I snorted.

“Yes, great one,” she agreed. “We spent a long time thinking about how to repay you for our new subterranean home. You don’t want a gold vein. Precious stones, either…”

What a rascal. She’s mocking me.

“And so, what did you decide?” I asked.

“For starters, we decided to gather all the loot from the creatures you slayed. There is a lot here. Including Legendaries and Epics.”

I smiled wide. A nice gift. Now, I didn’t need to look for a loot brigade. There really was a lot of loot. Hopefully, the kobolds were skilled enough to get all of it.

“I thank you,” I nodded. “It’s a nice gift. But you said, ‘for starters.’ You got more?”

“Yes,” she nodded, and the corners of her lips twitched again. “I could show you the location of one of the gnomish ‘stone paths.’“

At first, I frowned. Sounds familiar… Then it hit me. Ah, of course! Toggy Yojelle and his family secret, the Stone Paths! How could I have forgotten! He and I were planning on using them to ride our enemies’ nerves! So, in the end, we would be able to pull off our scheme, if of course Toggy was still alive…

Chapter 26

“IT’S HERE, Great One,” Lu-Tari said and gave a slight kick with her right foot.

“Are you saying a Stone Path was this close to the hunter castle all along?” I asked in surprise.

News to me. And just under two miles from the castle walls. So Toggy Yojelle was privy to everything going on in my former holdings.

“Yes, Great One,” the new matriarch replied with a slight smirk.

“Now I see why he was so attached to this patch of rock,” I muttered.

“He was probably spying on you,” the spirit threw in his five copper. “The gnomish queen must have been involved. I’d bet my hand on it.”

“You have to have one before you can bet it,” I jabbed. “Still, it occurs to me that you are not terribly far from the truth.”

“Your servant is right, Great One,” the matriarch unexpectedly supported Lionheart and, gesturing at a sheer cliff face a hundred paces away, nodded: “They had an observation post there.”

I looked up, trying to catch a glimpse of the gnomish lair among the stones, but couldn’t see it.

“Odd,” I snorted. “Why couldn’t Gorgie sniff them out?”

“Stealth amulets,” Lu-Tari replied. “The patriarch himself crafted them.”

Gallia must have really wanted to be in the loop on everything happening in our lands. And no wonder. The Order of Hunters may have been an ally, but it was only temporarily. How things would go in the future no one could say. The gnomish ruler was within her rights. The observation post was on her land. And the fact she never mentioned it was her business. Especially given the fact we were allowed to travel the road to Stenborg and back unimpeded. Leaving that without oversight simply could not be allowed.

“Then how did you spot them?” I asked the matriarch.

“Kobold magic,” Lu-Tari shrugged. “The patriarch may be an apostate, but his magic is our magic.”

“I see,” I nodded thoughtfully. “Then here’s my question.”

“Listening, Great One.”

“You promised to take me down the Stone Paths. How is that possible? As far as I know, access is restricted by blood magic. Only Toggy Yojelle and his relatives may travel them.”

“That’s almost right,” the matriarch replied guilefully. “The keepers really do have access to the Stone Paths by right of blood.”

“Curious,” I shook my head. “Are you saying you are one of the keepers?”

“No,” she frowned. A disgusted look appeared on her face. “I do not have even a drop of gnomish blood.”

“So…”

“It’s all simple,” the matriarch snorted. “I will lead you there the same way Lu-Moa led you to the safe location she lost by betraying you.”

“Now I see what’s going on here,” I chuckled.

“The Stone Paths were created by our forebearers,” said Lu-Tari. “And before the gnomes got their grubby mitts on them, the secret paths belonged to us.”

“In other words, you know secret ways around the blood magic?” I asked and added with a wily smirk: “Just like the underground temple I gave you.”

Lu-Tari shuddered. The fur on the back of her neck stood on end.

“Great One,” she rasped. “I…”

“Don’t worry,” I reassured her. “Nothing to fear. But in the future, try to tell me the whole truth. I know you don’t think you deceived me. I mean, I never asked. Just next time try not to keep anything to yourself.”

“The Great One is tolerant,” the matriarch bowed to me.

“And benevolent,” the spirit came acridly. “Next time, my master’s tolerance may be pushed too far.”

The matriarch shuddered and fell to the ground, her head bowing obediently.

“I beg you, forgive me, Great One!” she rasped. “This is my fault! Do not punish my children!”

I winced. Well, what choice did I have? I couldn’t just say it was all fine and she didn’t have to fall to her knees every time. This was the only way I could treat them. They wouldn’t get it otherwise. If I treated them any more warmly, they’d take me as weak and start doing stupid things. Like attacking unexpectedly. And then there would be no explaining to them that I was doing all this to keep them safe. Of course, having a kobold brood at my service able to locate any underground treasure was worth a lot. Anyone else in my position would have been rushing them off to search, but I did not intend to do so. Unless they wanted to. Furthermore, the Temple of Nyx was only a temporary stopover for the Stoneheart Brood. I was planning to move them somewhere safer. But first I wanted them to fill their bellies. After that, we could see what to do with them. In any case, the Crooked Mountains wouldn’t be the worst option. Alright…

“On your feet, matriarch,” I said, only by a miracle stopping myself from picking her up by the elbows. I could not afford to show weakness. Under any circumstances. “I’ll forgive you the one time. But keep in mind for the future – I do not appreciate being toyed with.”

“Yes, Great One,” Lu-Tari replied, easily standing to her feet. “I will remember everything you said.”

“So then, back to our conversation,” I changed the topic. “You know how to get to the Stone Paths, right?”

“Yes, Great One. I’ll head that way, then summon you with the amulet.”

“Do you know where they lead?”

“Alas, great one,” the matriarch shrugged. “I do not. If I spend too long on the paths, its keepers find out and then…”

“I understand,” I nodded. “Then they might try and repair the breach.”

“You’re as penetrating as ever, Great One,” the matriarch tilted her head.

“Oh well, then let’s do it,” I said, ignoring the matriarch’s praise.

Lu-Tari nodded and disappeared immediately. One moment, she was standing two steps away from me, and the next she was gone. Like she fell through the ground. A few minutes later, the signal amulet came to life, offering to let me join the new mother of the Stoneheart Brood.

* * *

The portal transported us to the gnomes’ Stone Path without issue, and Lu-Tari was already there waiting. The path itself consisted of a tunnel wide enough for two carts to pass each other. The huge amount of glowing green moss growing on the stone walls made it light inside. Basically, it was a fairly typical tunnel, the kind I had seen quite a lot of over the last year. To be frank, the subterranean life was now in my veins.

The matriarch told me straight away that there were fresh tracks on the path leading to the northwest. A lot of tracks. A huge amount. And it wasn’t only living creatures that left them. Basically, a few days ago, a fairly large column led by my old friend Toggy Yojelle had marched through. I had summoned Gorgie, and he recognized the redheaded gnome’s scent.

Toggy had stuck to our plan. While the Steel King, Alrak and his warband tried to take subterranean Stenborg, the crafty gnome was setting up shop behind their back lines with a column of at least two thousand golems. Why was I so sure Toggy was in command? Because he never would have let anyone other than his relatives onto his Stone Paths.

We followed the tracks to the end of the Stone Path to find a sealed exit. The matriarch did her trick again and summoned me to the surface. Just another piece of evidence that there weren’t really any secret ways out, she could simply get out of the tunnel at any point. It was her way of telling me she had learned her lesson before.

Once on the surface, I opened a portal to the temple and allowed Lu-Tari to leave. Now, at any moment, I could get onto the Stone Paths without her.

We found the gnomes quickly. We could see the glow of their magic from afar. The closer we came to the gnomish party and the bone-shaking magical emanations, the more we could hear fighting and smell blood and death.

“There’s a battle up ahead,” the spirit said, returning from scouting. “The gnomes have trapped a large party of humans in a ravine. And there are twice as many of your kind as golems.”

A quarter hour later, I saw it all with my own eyes. Once setup on the top of the cliff, hidden safely behind the canopy, I watched the battle in the ravine unfold.

The bottom of the ravine had a fairly wide road that was straight as an arrow.

“If the map I studied in the mage citadel is to be trusted, this is the King’s Track,” the spirit told me in a whisper. “The main trade route to Stenborg, and the safest. Uh… Or rather, it was…”

I remembered talking to Madi Belvokrut. My personal attorney loved going on about reputation. Gnomes placed its value above gold. Thus the straight roads through the mountains and many well-armed patrols! Reputation! Trading with the gnomes must be safe!

But there were also plans in place in case of war. Now the gnomes were executing a pincer maneuver on the thousands-strong human brigade. For the record, based on the standards I could see, the humans in the trap were a mix of Iverians and Tarians like me.

We had arrived just as the battle was shifting from long-distance attacks to melee combat.

“Looks like your scout countrymen didn’t notice the trap,” the spirit said. “Look how many Humans have been slain. If they had numerical superiority at the beginning, well now…”

“Against golems?” I chuckled. “Look at the people.”

“Yeah,” the spirit agreed. “A mess… You’ll have to forgive me, but your countrymen don’t seem to know the first thing about discipline. Why couldn’t they put all their archers and mages in a ring of pikemen? You can’t even call them a proper unit!”

The spirit was spitting venom. And he had good reason. Unlike the golems attacking as a single force, the humans had split up into several dozen smaller units and now looked like islands in the midst of a raging sea. And variously colored standards were raised proudly over every such island.

Honestly though, bit by bit these standards were disappearing beneath the bronze waves of the queen’s golem legion.

The common soldiers were perishing because of their pampered commanders. The barons and counts must never have agreed on a unified command structure so they wouldn’t have to share the glory, and now they were reaping the fruits of their pride and foolishness.

Some were able to organize themselves, though. For instance, my countrymen. Two units holding the standards of Baron Berence and Count Boarg were sticking together. But that was only because they had formed an alliance long before Baron Corwin’s incursion. The son of our Bear had married the daughter of the Boar.

I had never seen my homeland’s troops in action before, but their performance now was plunging me into despondency. No. I had not taken the side of the Steel King’s allies. This was their fault. They had come to a foreign land to plunder the undermountain folk’s riches, which were the stuff of legends, and every Imperial resident was familiar. But all they were doing here was soaking the caverns in their own blood.

Still, I was also in no hurry to help the gnomes. It had been months since Alrak attacked Foreston. In that time, I’d had plenty of time to think. And I had concluded that I no longer considered the gnomes to be allies. Our alliance had come to an end not when Gallia refused my friendship. It was all much earlier. When not a single gnome came to Foreston during the necromancer attack. She didn’t even send enough golems. And she’d promised me five hundred.

The several dozen swordfighters aside, the queen of the gnomes had made an excuse, saying her craftsmen weren’t working fast enough. But what do I see now? Two thousand bronze golems and enhanced, too. The spirit could see that clearly.

And something else. I might be getting ahead of myself, but still… According to Gallia, there were six thousand of the machines in her caverns. But what if there were actually a lot more? Was she being truthful? At the time, I just had to take her word for it.

Basically, I wasn’t the one who caused the split. And so, what was now happening in the ravine was outside my purview. If the gnomes were up against undead instead of humans, I’d have surely helped. But I did not want to fight against my own countrymen.

Gallia had essentially ended our alliance when she failed to come to my aid. And I wasn’t talking about the Order of Hunters, I meant me personally.

Meanwhile, the fight in the ravine was winding down. The Bronze Legion golems were tireless. They felt no pain. Fear was a foreign concept. Even after losing limbs, they would stay in the fight. The humans though… Basically, it wasn’t all that long before the human mages got exhausted, leaving scattered islands in the sea of bronze, marked by a pair of standards. The first showed a snarling bear and the second had a black boar with big tusks.

I frowned and breathed a heavy sigh.

“What scheme have you cooked up now?” the spirit asked right away.

“I just realized that I do not want to watch my countrymen die,” I shrugged.

“You do know that intervening is not the best idea, right?” the spirit was already guessing which way the wind was blowing. “The gnomes will see it as an act of aggression.”

“Don’t care,” I answered calmly. “As a matter of fact, I could have taken all of them down a long time ago, but I didn’t.”

“Good answer, my boy!” Kera exclaimed happily. “You are stronger than all these mortals taken together, which means you are right!”

I felt something twinge inside of me. I realized that the more blood I spilled, the better it would be for the dark goddess, but I was compelled to agree. She was partly correct. Power was on my side. And I had to capitalize on my advantage.

“How many golems do the gnomes have left in formation?” I asked the spirit.

“Just over a thousand,” he replied.

“And how many of them could you take control of?”

“At once? A hundred,” the spirit replied without a second thought. “Then five hundred within ten minutes.”

“So, could you get them all?” I raised a brow.

“Yes,” he replied, slowing down a bit. “But I’ll need around half an hour and a thousand sparks.”

“Amazing!” I praised, lips pursed. “Respect!”

“Well, it’s all thanks to your Will,” the spirit replied modestly, but based on the upwelling of emotion, he appreciated the praise.

“We’re practically one and the same,” I snorted. “So don’t be humble. And get ready. I give you half an hour.”

After saying that, I summoned all my pets, then started down from the cliff. A moment later, Coal turned his neck smoothly, and I jumped up onto his head. With the amulet Kera gave me, all my characteristics were doubled. So, I could easily pull off such tricks without activating an avatar.

The sudden appearance of two huge whipsnakes was noticed both by the gnomes and humans. The battle had already dwindled to nothing. A new, more dangerous opponent had stepped onto the scene. The golems all regrouped and fell back to the gray cliff where Toggy Yojelle and the gnomish mages were stationed, orchestrating the bronze legion.

The humans also quickly formed into some semblance of a shield wall. I looked closer. Ahem… They’d really been beaten up. A bit longer and the gnomes would have been celebrating their victory.

Hm… I think I know that broad-shouldered warrior. That’s right! Long gray moustache. A scar across his whole face. That’s Ulf Lange. A headman from the baron’s retinue. He once lived in Orchus. On the street next to mine on the corner. My father and him used to get along. My dad even lamented the fact Ulf Lange had sold his house and moved to a village closer to the baron’s castle.

While I stared into the dismal and frightened faces of my countrymen, the people on the top of the gray cliff finally spotted me.

“Who’s that I see?!” I heard a familiar quizzical voice. “Can it really be? My neighbor has come to enjoy the show?! Were we being too noisy?! Sorry for waking you up from the post-meal nap!”

I heard loud laughter come from the top of the cliff. The gnomish laughter did come across as nervous though, if not to say with notes of fear.

“Hello to you, too, Toggy Yojelle!” I barked back loudly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a few soldiers shudder on both sides.

The only ones not to express emotion were the golems. They instead stayed perfectly still, awaiting orders from their puppet masters.

“I heard you switched sides!” Toggy shouted defiantly. “Have you come to bail out your pathetic tribesmen?!”

A graveyard silence settled in over the human formation. Everyone was listening closely. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what was going on in their heads.

“I am not on anyone’s side anymore!” I answered. “A certain someone decided she didn’t need me as her friend anymore!”

I put particular emphasis on the word ‘someone.’ Toggy was no fool. I could see on the redhead’s face that he knew the score.

“Why are you here?” a black-bearded mage shouted loudly. And he was obviously a mage. “You sold your soul to Darkness! You have no place among us!”

“I came to collect something your queen owes me!” I chuckled. “The deadline is already long past, but she’s still in no rush to uphold her promise! And you know that means penalties have to be paid!”

“You’ve lost your mind!” the black-bearded one laughed. The other gnomes followed suit. The only one not laughing was Toggy. He was staring fixedly into my face, trying to figure out what I had planned.

Meanwhile, the black-bearded one kept going.

“Pathetic traitor!” he shouted, spraying spit. “You will die just like all other spawn of the Abyss!”

I chuckled. A few yards away from the one who shouted, a lithe body was lurking among the stones. Gorgie was awaiting commands.

“Done,” the spirit whispered into my ear. “I did it faster than I thought. Even saved a few hundred sparks. These pipsqueaks have pretty poor Will. All the golems are at your disposal and awaiting orders.”

“Toggy Yojelle!” I smiled. “I’m letting you go! Despite the foolishness of your kind, you will not die today! Tell your queen that I have taken what she owed me, and to expect a visit!”

“Die!” the black-bearded gnome shouted, his mouth agape and eyes bulging. He even waved his hand cartoonishly, but that was the extent of it.

“What’s going on?!” he squealed. “Toggy?! What is happening? Why are they not obeying me?!”

My friend kept silent, paying no attention to the shouter. He was just staring sadly into my eyes. The other gnomes peeked out from behind the rocks, trying to figure out what had happened to their bronze warriors.

“They are not obeying you, because they are mine now!” I shouted to the black-bearded one and beamed. Then waved a hand.

In confirmation, the golems turned at the same time and started getting into a new formation. The shield bearers stepped forward. The swordfighters and archers hid behind them. Seemingly, this was the first time in history the gnomish machines had turned their weapons on their creators.

The black-bearded gnome made for a pitiful sight. Like an owl, he was turning his head all around with his eyes looking like saucers. His allies looked scarcely better.

“Toggy!” I shouted. “Get out of here while you still can!”

“She will be furious!” he shouted. “You do realize that, right?!”

In response, I just smiled in silence and waved.

I didn’t have to spend too long trying to convince Toggy Yojelle. My “neighbor’s” head of red hair flickered between the stones. The other gnomes, shouting curses, followed after them. The black-bearded one said nothing, though. While walking away, he stared wide-eyed at the neat rows of golems, which had been at his command a matter of minutes earlier. And the look in his eyes read as incomprehension, disbelief, and offence.

Chapter 27

I HAD NOT SIMPLY “let the gnomes go,” though. I gave Gorgie an instruction to sneakily follow them to the Stone Paths. And I had no doubt Toggy and his troops were heading straight there. Or that my savvy neighbor would try to leave lookouts behind among the cliffs.

Gorgie had been given clear instructions – to scare the spies, but not harm a single hair on their heads. I know my tomcat; he can get carried away. Sometimes, he doesn’t realize how strong he is, and things end badly.

And his strength had only grown recently. I would have liked more but, alas, resources and, most importantly, his characteristic ceiling kept us penned in. I even tried to put a second archdemon amulet on him, but the system was explicit that it would not allow such tricks. Same for the whipsnakes. Essentially, I was the only one who could use the artifacts.

After Gorgie disappeared into the caverns, I ordered the spirit to gather loot on the battlefield. I was interested only in the bodies of bronze legionaries who had fallen in battle and their body parts, as well as esses, tablets and magic artifacts.

Armor, money, valuables and personal items belonging to the dead humans I forbid him from touching. Under different circumstances, I’d have taken everything, but now I had several hundred of my own countrymen watching to see how I would behave. And it would come to define whether we’d be able to talk or not. Heh… And here I was trying to save people by strange methods again, rushing into it. The smart ones will get it, but the stupid ones… Hm… The stupid ones will always be stupid.

The spirit didn’t keep me waiting long and, a few minutes later, the thousands of golems which now belonged to me were ambling around the battlefield.

While Gorgie “accompanied” the gnomes, and the spirit headed the loot brigade, I finally decided to have a chat with my fellow countrymen.

Thanks to the spirit, I already knew that two hundred fifty-six fighters had survived the battle, and most of them had light injuries, though others were wounded severely. Twenty-seven meanwhile were at death’s door.

Those still on their feet, hiding behind shields and brandishing spears and swords, formed a circle with archers in the center along with two weak mages and all the severely wounded fighters. Despite their shameful condition, the warriors were clearly ready to make their lives come at a high cost. Baron Berence and Count Boarg’s filthy, blood-stained standards towered over the soldiers’ heads.

All that time, not letting slip a single word, the people watched dismally as the body of the giant snake with lightning running down her scales, curved around their formation and encircled them.

I could see their eyes. They contained fear, admiration, spite and determination. And strangely enough, hope. I had after all just saved their lives. And a lot of people realized that. For example, the giant with the tusked boar coat of arms on his chest standing in the middle of the shield wall with his feet planted wide. Next to the big guy stood a tough looking warrior firmly grasping a Boarg family standard.

The giant has fancy armor and weaponry. Golden adornments. A powerful gaze, gray eyes. Head held high. All of that spoke to the fact that the man before me was a member of the count’s family. The only thing throwing me off was his age. It was somewhere around mine.

If I had seen this young man a year ago, I’d have definitely felt jealous of his height, poise, tar-black untamed mane of curly hair and handsome face. The exact kind of guy I always imagined girls liking.

But now he didn’t make me feel anything other than incomprehension. Why the heck was he here, in a meat grinder? If he were a son of Count Boarg, and as far as I’d heard, he had a few, his place would be at some ball or reception, surrounded by the young daughters of various barons and counts. If I understood one thing about politics, this kid had a different duty to perform – strengthening the alliance with some elite neighbor by building marriage bonds with their heirs.

Still, I shouldn’t be knocking the head of House Boarg. The old count probably figured he could make off with some gnomish treasure. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn he even had to make a big offering to the king to be allowed to bring his warriors to what they thought would be an easy win against the undermountain folk. I’d bet the count even held a celebratory ball in advance to honor the future heroes and conquerors. And of course! Everyone knew about the gnomes’ untold riches. Soon, very soon, the count’s treasure chambers would be packed to the brim with gold and valuables. Or so he thought…

But Count Boarg and others like him overlooked one important fact – Gallia Longbraid simply does not tolerate being stolen from. Instead of gold and valuables, the only things going back to the Empire would be coffins filled with dead human warriors. And that’s the best case. The worst is that the fallen warriors would be reborn as necromorphs.

Standing at a slight distance from the count’s offspring was a tall warrior holding Baron Berence’s standard aloft. And next to him, leaning on makeshift crutches, slightly wobbling, there stood a broad-shouldered, short-bearded man.

There was no Berence coat of arms on his chest. So, the old bear decided to send a troop commander on this campaign. He was wary of sending out his eldest son and sole male descendant. And rightly so. Our baron was quite the schemer. At the very least that’s what my father used to say.

A black head of hair with a white streak. A few scars across the face. A tenacious look in hazel eyes. The troop commander had clearly seen his share of battles. I could even tell which of the two was in charge.

When Coal stopped twenty paces from the shield wall, the troop commander opened negotiations.

“Greetings, good sir mage!” he said courageously although, based on his pale face, sheer force of will was the only thing keeping him on his feet.

“My name is Olaf Wagner, and I am a troop commander for Baron Berence!” he introduced himself. “And this is our lead commander, Viscount Adelric Boarg, the eldest son and heir to the noble Count Boarg!”

So, I wasn’t wrong. A son of the count. Still, I wasn’t expecting the count to take such a risk as to send his eldest out here. He must be completely confident in the might of his mustered army. I wonder if he knows about the necromorphs.

The viscount stepped forward pridefully. Puffing out his broad chest, and thrusting his aristocratic chin forward, he said loudly:

“Good sir mage! Forgive me, but I do not know your name…”

“Bergman,” I answered. “Eric Bergman.”

I saw a few people shudder and begin to stir. They must have recognized my last name. Ulf Lange, my dad’s old buddy also frowned. He even took a step forward to try and see my face.

“Mister Bergman!” the viscount smiled haughtily. “Thank you for your help! Without your intervention, this could have been tough!”

I chuckled to myself. The warriors surrounding the young Boarg winced, some shaking their heads.

“Viscount, let’s call it what it is!” I laughed and said what everyone was thinking: “If not for my intervention, the gnomish machines would have slain every last one of you. Based on what’s left of your warband, the sovereigns of these lands were not planning on taking prisoners. Even you, viscount. Despite your lofty origins.”

Adelric’s eyes narrowed. The muscles beneath his temples bulged. He did not like what I said. He really did not. But his soldiers now had smiles on their faces. They already had realized I was not going to kill them. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Ulf Lange whispering something into Olaf Wagner’s ear, nodding my direction.

“Mister Bergman!” Olaf Wagner joined the conversation. “The viscount was trying to say…”

“Enough, troop commander!” I cut him off. “I have neither the time nor the inclination to have a manners-off with this young man. It’s essentially the fault of those like him and his daddy that this even happened.”

I nodded toward the site of the gnomish slaughter.

“The bodies of those who were unable to overcome their pride now lay there alongside those who followed the haughty fools.”

Spots of red appeared on the viscount’s face. He took a deep breath to respond to the insult, but I didn’t let him get a word in.

“Viscount, before you say anything, I insist that you weigh every word you’re about to say,” my Will-enhanced voice along with the menacing hiss of two giant whipsnakes worked flawlessly on him.

The count’s eldest son shut his mouth for the first time in his life. In his mainly proud and indignant look, I also saw animalistic fear. I really gave it to him.

The smiles on the warriors’ faces also disappeared. Everyone suddenly remembered where they were.

I nodded, satisfied. That’s more like it.

“Mister Wagner!” I turned to look at the troop commander. “Me, you and everyone else here is aware that the only reason any of your soldiers are still alive is thanks to your command. Yes, beyond a doubt, you’d have all died either way, but you were fortunate enough to last longer than the rest. It was enough time for me to get a good look at someone in your inner circle.”

“Who, Mister Bergman?” the troop commander asked, smiling under his moustache. He knew exactly who I was referring to.

“Ulf Lange,” I replied, nodding at the headman. “Before leaving Orchus, he was a good friend of my father’s. And essentially, he is the one you all owe your lives to. If I hadn’t spotted him, I never would have wanted to stop the gnomes.”

“Hello, Eric!” the headman spoke up and stepped forward. “You’re bigger than I remember.”

“And you’re older, Mister Lange,” I replied with a welcoming smile. “How’s Missus Lange doing? What about your daughters?”

“Praise the gods, they’re all alive,” Ulf responded, and a shadow crept onto his face. “I was sorry to hear about Aren and Liana… I only heard the tragic news a few months ago… They were good people.”

“They said the same about you,” I responded. “What brings you to these lands?”

The look on my dad’s old friend’s face turned even more dismal.

“I swore an oath of fealty to our baron.”

“I understand,” I answered.

“Just like the rest of us!” the troop commander jumped in, and also tried taking a step forward but, rocking, stood in place. His face reminded me of a sheet of paper. Clutching his makeshift crutch with a dead grasp. Just about to fall unconscious. But he’ll hold out. He’s a badass. I respect him.

“You do realize who’s side you’re on, right?” I asked, tilting my head to one side. “I hope you don’t believe those fairy tales about gnomish treachery being fed to our people by secret chancery agents. I can see on your dismal faces that you all know the Steel King’s true nature! And you already know that the king of Taria and all the other rulers are in league with the necromancers!”

Silence hung over the formation, broken a minute later by the troop commander.

“What have you decided to do with us?”

All the soldiers tensed up.

“You can go back to your camp,” I responded, and a sigh of relief ran down the formation. “When the golems are finished with my loot, you may gather the bodies and belongings of your fallen comrades. But alas, experience essences, tablets and magic artifacts I cannot leave behind. Might makes right, so that all belongs to me. The rest I will not touch. I hope that won’t be a problem for anyone.”

After saying that, I gave a cute smile.

“Of course, of course, Mister Bergman,” the troop commander replied hurriedly.

“But that isn’t all,” I said. “Mister Wagner! Viscount! I would like to trade favors with you. Like, I scratch your back, you scratch mine. What do you say?”

The troop commander and viscount traded glances.

“We’re listening, Mister Bergman,” the count’s son said, his panic back under control. “We will do everything in our power.”

I could sense his fear. Along with everyone else’s. Ulf Lange also looked tense. Still, I gave a clear indication that he was the only reason his comrades were still alive. I of course could not blame him. The last time he saw me, I could hardly move my arms or legs. I was a vegetable. And now here I was out of the blue riding a giant snake. I easily snatched the gnomes’ golems away. Had I not said my name, he’d never have recognized me.

“Tell your commanders to pack up camp and hurry back home.” I saw a few of the soldiers shiver when they heard my voice and saw my cold gaze. “You have two days after you get back to your allies. Anyone who stays in the camp after my warning will die. Well, how’s that? Will you do me that favor?”

The troop commander and viscount traded dismal looks. I had just told them that I already knew the location of their main camp. Even though I actually didn’t. But that was no problem. They would lead me straight there.

“Mister Bergman!” the troop commander answered with a slight bow. “We will not fail to tell our generals what you have said. We would be glad to do you that favor. Though we do realize we are doing ourselves a favor here. I assume that was meant to be the favor in return?”

“No, you’re not getting it,” I chuckled and motioned to activate a spell.

My words and movements made all the people look tense. But at the last moment, a wave of surprise ran down the ranks of the warriors. Smiles appeared on a few of their faces. The troop commander also smiled and placed a hand on his right thigh. He must have had a wound there, which was now starting to heal at an accelerated rate after my Touch of Darkness.

* * *

“How rude! My father will surely hear about that scoundrel! That lowly commoner will come to regret his conduct!”

As expected, the viscount was trying to spew all his rage onto his audience after being made to feel fear and humiliation. He was pacing around a small clearing with a bonfire in the middle. Also around it were Olaf Wagner, Ulf Lange, and the two mages I thought looked weak. A gray, old man and a rail-thin young man. And me, of course. But they couldn’t see me. I had a canopy blocking all my “travelling companions” from seeing me.

The thing was that, after the Tarian elite party started leaving, hurriedly gathering up only the most valuable loot and personal belongings of a few of their countrymen, I sent all the golems and loot they gathered into the sanctuary. I had to wait a bit. The spirit decided to pick up everything the human loot brigade left behind.

Once finished with business, I followed after the Tarian division and caught up to them around nightfall. After spotting all the commanders around a bonfire, I decided to take a seat and listen.

The viscount’s extreme anger was clearly amusing to both the troop commander and headman. But they were doing their best to hide their smiles. The count’s son was on a hair trigger and could end up spewing his rage on them. Unlike me, they had reason to fear his father’s anger.

“He dared express disrespect to me!” the viscount continued getting carried away. The black boar on his cuirass looked ready to charge into battle. “He won’t get away with that so easily! We’ll go back to the main camp and prepare for battle! I will take his head myself! Then throw it on the trash pit. What an insolent face! He said we should run! My cousin will be outraged! The king didn’t send Boulder down here so he would surrender and run away with his tail between his legs like a pathetic little mutt.”

I frowned. Boulder… Boulder… Hm… A cousin of the Boargs’. He must be talking about a nephew of the king of Taria, Count Boulder Alce. So, he’s the one who got sent down here to lead the Tarian army. Ahem… Not the best choice. There were a lot of rumors about Boulder Alce. And not all positive. He was known to be just about everything other than a genius military commander.

“And another thing!” the viscount exclaimed, standing opposite the bonfire. “Who does this Eric Bergman think he is?!”

He hit Olaf and Ulf with an angry look, and they shrugged their shoulders.

“The supreme magister of the Order of Monster Hunters,” the old mage’s creaky voice sounded out louder than expected. “He’s the one that brought back the queen of the gnomes. Brought three hearts of the forest to our world. Slew the Blood Werewolf of Orchus. And that’s just a small fraction of the feats the man has accomplished. If he even is a man… We watched him take a thousand bronze legionaries from the gnomes with our own eyes. He has creatures at his command that could annihilate our entire army.”

Silence hung over the bonfire. For the record, all other conversations in the camp had also ceased. The warriors were all trying to eavesdrop on their commanders.

I chuckled. Olaf and Ulf’s faces stretched out funnily in astonishment. I was particularly tickled by the headman’s expression, my dad’s old friend. Ahem, I don’t blame him. I’d also have had a hard time believing it.

I looked closer at the mage. A curious old man. No Order of Mages emblems on him. Were people really starting to talk about my accomplishments?

“But how can that be, Master Gunthrum?” the viscount whispered, stunned, losing all his verve in an instant. “What should we do?”

“My boy,” the old man came softly. The mage must have been a close confidant of Count Boarg. “Were I in your place, I’d forget about vengeance. And try to convince your cousin to leave the main camp immediately, at all costs. Such powerful beings as Eric Bergman do not throw words around idly. If we do not comply, we will all meet our demise. I can sense it.”

I saw the people sitting around the fires shiver. But the old man was not done yet.

“Mister Lange,” he said to my father’s friend. He even shuddered in surprise. “I thank the gods that we had you in our party. Thanks to you, death passed us by this time.”

Chapter 28

“ADELRIC, MY BOY,” Boulder Alce said with a slight smirk. “Obviously, we all understand why you’re so upset, but you have to understand us, too. Everything you just said sounds more like some sort of theater production than the truth. And a very well-executed one at that.”

The count, a tall broad-shouldered blond was older than his cousin Viscount Boarg by twenty years. A foppish beard, pomaded locks, a flawless manicure. It all made the impression that the Tarian commander was on his way to a royal ball.

And that impression was only made stronger by the count’s chic tent and its truly regal interior. A long table set with all kinds of delicacies. Silver and gold goblets. Fancy armor and weapons adorned with gemstones. Basically, to my eye, Count Alce didn’t know much about war.

Unlike Baron Beringar Ursus sitting opposite him, cousin of Baron Berence.

Harrier gray. Thick-set. Looking rough as a cliff face, Baron Ursus was famous, known by most likely all Tarians. One of the most well-known warriors and military commanders in our country. The old war dog had taken part in every war and local conflict the Empire had seen in his lifetime. Whereas the rest of the Tarian counts and barons in the tent had treated the flummoxed Adelric with derision, Beringar Ursus was the exact opposite, looking dark as a black cloud.

I chuckled to myself. He seemed to be the only person to take my warning seriously. By the way, Master Gunthrum, who was also at the little council session, was staring at all the primped Tarian nobles like dead men. The look in the old mage’s eye told me he’d already made up his mind. The only thing keeping him in the allied camp was the fact that his ward Adelric Boarg was also there.

Over the three days the Tarians spent traveling to the main camp, I had been secretly at their side, figuring out who was who, and was approximately ready for what I ended up seeing in the relationship between the allied warbands. Honestly though, what I saw after that surpassed my boldest expectations.

The allied camp was in the middle of a place known as the Hand of the Mountainshaker. The spirit told me its name. He said that according to gnomish legend, an ancient stone titan was buried here, slain by a forgotten god at the very dawn of this world.

The titan’s body had been swallowed up by the earth long ago. And the only part left was a big, huge hand. The first time I saw it, a chill ran down my spine. It looked a lot like a severed hand. Rock fingers. Igneous knuckles. And Kera was laughing mysteriously and softly, adding to the sense of fear. Now try to guess if she was mocking me or trying to say the ancient gnomish fairy tales were true.

In the center of the gigantic hollow was the camp of allied troops, their variously shaded tents seeming like crumbs of bread on the Mountainshaker’s outstretched palm.

I spent a few hours strolling around the camp safely sheltered from view by a canopy of invisibility before concluding that I was observing a huge motley crew of marauders.

The camp was split into distinct allied groups. The western part of the camp was for the Dartans, while the east was for Atrians and lizardfolk. The south meanwhile was Iverians, and the north was full of small and large Tarian tents.

In the middle was a wide pen holding prisoners. Several hundred gnomes and elves. Among them, I saw a few familiar faces. But one in particular caught my eye.

“Cousin!” Adelric exclaimed, visibly insulted, making me shudder and resurface from my memories.

I’d already spent the better part of an hour secretly observing the Tarian council of commanders and listening to the viscount’s disjointed tale of their shared misadventure.

As it turned out, a blended unit of Iverian archers commanded by Count Eneko and three thousand Tarian infantry commanded by Count Owl had been sent west to Gray Ridge so they could plunder the gnomish holdings there. Essentially, that was why the allied troops had not taken part in the storming of Stenborg. Officially, they were reservists. But in reality, they were marauders and thieves.

The gnomish capital had been sacked by Egbert’s Steel Legion along with the hordes of undead. The allies were not particularly fond of that outcome. Because Stenborg contained all the undermountain folk’s wealth. But when the first ships sailed back to the Empire carrying slain Fradian legionaries, everyone stopped insisting they be allowed to take part in the sacking of the impregnable underground city.

Mercenaries liked that, though. They were slowly robbing the holdings of the undermountain clans and capturing refugees and scouts. Basically, the shellacking I caught Toggy Yojelle giving them was the first significant defeat the allied army had experienced. And that was why the barons and counts in the command tent viewed the viscount with scorn and sympathy.

And of course! I mean, it was a huge shame! Almost five thousand warriors had been slain by a handful of golems. A shame! The young viscount had yet to realize that the label of loser would stick to him for the rest of his life. Now, there could be no more talk of a good match for his offspring, like Count Boarg had so dreamed of when sending his eldest son to war.

In fact, how could he even find a match at all? As soon as the Steel King found out about the viscount’s defeatist speeches and calls to flee the mountains in shame, the House of the Boar would be in trouble. And the nobles here now were whispering about just that.

“Do you doubt me?!” Adelric continued with anguish.

“What are you saying, cousin?!” Count Alce objected falsely, and his thin brows shot upward. “How could you think such a thing?”

“Then what’s the point of all the dramatics?” the count asked, offended.

“The pipsqueaks outplayed us,” Count Jerd Marten laughed. The heavyset, black-bearded man was quick with a jab. “Do you really think a thousand golems from the Bronze Legion just stopped obeying their leaders so easily?”

“But I saw it with my own eyes!”

“I don’t doubt it!” Count Ivo Links chuckled. The rail-thin brunette placed a hand to his lips mincingly and rolled his eyes. “There were also giant snakes there the size of a castle.”

“And the whole thing was being orchestrated by some nulled boy,” Boulder Alce added fuel to the fire.

And that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. As everyone laughed, the viscount jumped out of the tent. Master Gunthrum was hot on his heels. I couldn’t see a single emotion in his eyes. Seemingly, as far as he was concerned, everyone in the tent was as good as dead and buried.

I decided to stay and listen.

“Foolish boy,” Ivo Links said, laughing. He daubed his puffy lips with a pure white lace kerchief. “Your stupid uncle never should have sent him here.”

“Agreed,” Boulder Alce said, stroking his chin. “House Boarg is in for some rough times. The Steel King will surely find out what this dolt has been saying.”

“All the better for you,” Jerd Marten laughed. “The Boar’s lands will be yours.”

The blatant cynicism took me aback slightly. The boy hadn’t even made it back to his own tent, and they were already carving up his father’s lands. And all because he had told them the truth and was trying to avert catastrophe. Ahem… My father was right about nobles. They live by different laws. I didn’t feel bad for the young Boarg though. Were it anyone else in his place, he’d be right there carving up their lands. But still, was there really no humanity left in these men?

And I did not want to kill common soldiers.

“What if everything he said is actually true?” the sullen Beringar Ursus finally spoke up. “Then we have less than a day.”

“Baron!” Count Alce smiled. “Do you really believe that crap? Any old magician at a street market could conjure up a more complex illusion than that! The gnomes are trying to scare us. A couple thousand golems is all they have left. Stenborg will fall either today or tomorrow! And these lands will be ours!”

“And another thing,” Count Links supported him. “The man the viscount spoke of is long dead. He perished in the sack of Foreston on the Dark Continent. I heard Magister Sato say so.”

I frowned. That old bastard really got around.

“Beyond the fact the gnomes killed the Iverians and a few thousand of our warriors, now they want to try and play games with us!” Jerd Marten spewed out an angry tirade. “Eneko was quite the conceited dullard, but I really feel bad for Owl!”

“Okay, count,” Count Alce smiled. “We’re all friends here. You were probably the first person to dance a jig when the news of Count Owl’s demise came in. How much you owe him? Twenty thousand or thirty?”

Jerd spat on the floor. Then, scratching the back of his head, he said angrily:

“That shark practically drove me bankrupt!”

“Jerd, buddy!” one of the barons exclaimed. “You knew just as well as us that it was best not to sit at a card table with Owl.”

“It’s in the past now,” said Jerd and looked around harshly at the barons and counts. “No creditor, no debt. Right?”

“Right you are, my friend,” Count Alce nodded with a smile. “Owl’s body was devoured by scavengers, and his loan records along with him.”

I smiled. Not exactly. Knowing Lionheart, if nobody had taken the late Count Owl’s papers, they would surely be found in my sanctuary.

“The count owed the dead man a lot more than that,” the spirit told me just then. “Fifty-seven thousand gold coins. We have the chest of records. By the way, half of the people here owed quite a lot of money to that Owl. Which is why they’re all so happy. The total debt is two hundred seventeen thousand gold. If we sell the records to the dead man’s family even at half their value, we could make a big payday.”

I whistled to myself in my head. This Owl had made a killing on the respected gentlemen. It was very possible he was sent away from camp on purpose.

“Gentlemen, we must prepare for the attack,” came Beringar Ursus. He was the only one not partaking in the discussion of Count Marten’s gambling debts. “We have to coordinate with the others.”

“Baron, are you serious?” Count Alce asked in surprise. “As chief commander of the Tarian legion, I order you to stop panicking and spreading defeatism! That was my cousin’s first taste of real battle. He got scared. Imagined a bunch of stuff.”

“My troop commander and the other soldiers say the opposite,” the old baron pushed his line.

“You believe the words of commoners?” Count Links tossed his five copper in with an evil smirk.

I just shook my head. If all commanders in the Tarian army were like him, it was surprising my homeland hadn’t been conquered yet.

“Above all, they are combat officers!” Ursus growled out like a bear. “And we, I would dare to remind you, are now at war in enemy territory!”

“Gentlemen!” Count Alce raised his hands. “Gentlemen! Please! Settle down! We’re all friends here. Let’s not squabble over such minor issues. Baron, what exactly are you suggesting?”

“We have to call for an emergency council session with all allied commanders to discuss the current situation,” Baron Ursus said wearily. I could see exhaustion and disappointment in his eyes, much like Master Gunthrum’s.

“How do you imagine that going, baron?” Count Marten chuckled. “We are talking about lizardfolk right now. Those bastards surrounded their tents with dozens of elven ranger heads on pikes and will not let anyone through. Their captains are with the main pack right now pacifying the uprising in the Great Forest. There hasn’t been word from the prince of the Atrians for seven days now. He left a few dozen common troops in his camp. The konung of the northerners hasn’t been sober in five days. He’s trying to outdrink the chieftain of the ice giants. The Iverians are in the minority after our recent defeat. So, does that mean defending the camp will fall on our shoulders?”

“Are you suggesting we lie back and show our bellies when the enemy comes?” Baron Ursus grumbled.

“I’m trying to say there is no enemy,” Count Marten replied. “The boy has no credibility. All the gnomes’ troops are trying to hold back our emperor’s onslaught right now, they’re on their last legs!”

Count Marten said the last part with his head held high and his right leg thrust forward. Seemingly, they had all considered Egbert emperor for quite some time. And no wonder. Who else?

“I agree completely with the count,” Boulder Alce nodded and raised a goblet. “The gnomish traitors will fall at our emperor’s feet soon enough! And I say we drink to that! Long live the Great Emperor Egbert the Seventh! Hurrah, gentlemen!”

“Hurrah, for the emperor!”

“Hurrah!”

A few goblets shot into the air. Ursus also joined the count’s toast. But he did so in spite of himself, wincing and muttering something under his breath. Count Alce noticed right away.

“You know something, baron?!” he exclaimed with an acrid smile. “I just had an amazing idea! Seeing how you’re so concerned our enemies might come, what do you say to heading out to keep watch with your people? How do you like that idea? And maybe you take the viscount and his people, too. My little cousin could stand to gain experience by your side. You are one of our most famed commanders! I think my uncle will be happy to hear that his son got martial education from such a highly esteemed warrior!”

Baron Ursus slowly set his cup on the table and stood to his full height.

“Is that an order, general?” he asked, savoring every word.

“Yes, baron,” Count Alce nodded. The good-natured mask flew off his face instantly. Now he looked like a cruel and merciless politician. “Go keep watch. And we’ll stay here to think of how to defend the camp.”

“As you wish, general,” the baron gave a short bow and turned to leave the tent.

“Coward!” Count Links chuckled when the tent flap had fallen back in place. “These Boargs and Berences were always cowards. The emperor must know about this.”

“If only you knew, gentlemen, how sick the last few months have made me of his dismal countenance,” Count Alce smiled. “And what about his advice? Oh gods! I couldn’t go a day without that old man trying to teach me something! A genius in the art of war! Pff… I’ve finally sent him packing. And as for the emperor… He’ll surely find out about the cowardice of his subjects. Just think! He was calling on us to leave our camp in shame with our tails between our legs!”

“By the way,” Count Links said to the others. “What do you really intend to tell the emperor and our king?”

“The gnomes set a trap then, using illusion magic, tried to sow fear in our ranks,” Count Alce answered. “But we didn’t fall for it. We slayed all the cowards and traitors.”

Count Links choked and Marten grunted.

“Yes, gentlemen,” Boulder Alce’s voice was laced with ice. “Do you seriously believe I will allow traitors to leave in peace?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“As soon as they leave camp, we send lizardfolk and ice titans on their trail. That way, we kill two birds with one stone. We get rid of the traitors and give some food to the constantly starving beasts.”

I didn’t listen to anything else. I quietly slipped out of the tent and headed toward the pen of captives. As I walked, I realized that I didn’t feel the least bit bad for the people. Honestly, I shouldn’t have even saved my own countrymen. They had done a lot of bad here. Marauding, murder, capturing refugees en masse… But I promised. And I keep my word. Let them go.

I got into the pen without particular issue. There were guards but more likely to avoid prison breaks than to defend them from the starving lizardfolk. The ten-foot-long reptiloids were strolling past the fence at regular intervals, slipping a hungry gaze over the people inside.

Carefully maneuvering between the groups of captives, I made it to the center. As I went, I realized that all the groups were made up of five to six gnomes or elves. It only took one look to see that they were all warriors. Nearer the center were civilians. Women, children, old men.

I nodded, satisfied by my thoughts. Good job. They did not surrender. They look vigilant. The guards clearly did not inspire much hope.

Once in the middle, I looked around. So, where are you? Aha! There you are!

Five paces away, I hunched down over a gnome lying on a dirty cloak. He was lying on his back with his hands in his armpits, trying to warm them up. His beloved coal-black doublet had been torn to shreds. His unkempt red beard looked like an old washrag. His face was so papery white I could see every last freckle. But despite the gnome’s pitiable position, I did not notice any fear. Only sadness. But that’s understandable…

I crouched down quietly next to the gnome and came in a near whisper:

“Mister Belvokrut, please indulge me. What brings you, my personal attorney, to this nasty old dump?”

Chapter 29

MADI SHUDDERED IN SURPRISE, quickly raised his head, and looked around half blind. Realizing nothing had changed, he breathed a heavy sigh and hung his head low again.

A moment later, he chuckled nervously and said in a near whisper:

“So, it’s finally happening…”

I frowned. To be frank, it was not the reaction I was expecting.

“What exactly?” I asked.

“I’m dying of starvation,” Madi explained, still looking at the sky. “I’ve seen it plenty of times in the last few months. Almost everyone who died hallucinated first. Mostly, dead relatives. Heh… I thought I’d get to see my late mom or dad again. Honestly though, me and the old man never got along much when he was alive. So, I’m happy he didn’t come to shepherd me to the other side. But the last thing I was expecting was a dead client. Much less just his voice.”

For the first few seconds, I sat with my mouth agape before it finally hit me. Madi had taken me for a ghost.

Hm… Why not be a ghost for a minute?

“Not happy?” I asked.

“What makes you say that?” the gnome snorted. “You’re not the worst person to talk to. Plus, you’re a good guy. Too bad you fell in battle. She didn’t listen…”

“You mean the queen?”

“Yes,” Madi nodded, and a single tear rolled down his right cheek, leaving behind a thin trail of moisture. “Forgive me, Eric… Truly, we tried convincing her to go to your aid…”

The gnome’s voice was shaky.

“But she refused and forced us to leave Stenborg.”

“Is that so?” I snorted.

“Yes,” Madi responded. “She said we do not know the man we are interceding on behalf of. She said you had betrayed us all and gone to the dark side.”

“What if I told you that was true?”

“Who cares!?” the gnome answered quickly. “Dark, light, red, purple… Who cares!? I do not believe that being affiliated with any side could have an impact on a person. If a person is crap, it doesn’t matter if they’re light three times over. No light is going to change them! Just the same way darkness could not have changed you… And I do not believe you betrayed us.”

“So, how did you hear I died?”

“After I was captured,” the gnome responded, a bit calmer. “Some elf overheard two mages saying it when he was brought in for questioning. And they got the info from Magister Sato.”

Sato. That old man really got around.

“And how did you end up captured?”

“We could not disobey the queen’s order,” Madi replied glumly. “My cousin and I had to leave the capital. Clan Red Hammer sheltered us in their holdings. They opted to meet our foe in their own castle.”

“Who attacked you?”

“Northerners,” Madi replied, shooting an angry glance at the Dartan camp. “With the help of their mages, the ice titans managed to break through the castle’s defenses. And after that… My cousin perished, along with almost all of Clan Red Hammer’s warriors. The women and children retreated underground. Toggy Yojelle managed to get them out…”

“And how long have you been here?”

“A few months,” Madi responded quietly. It was obviously hard for him to talk. The starvation had weakened him. “At first, they were feeding us okay. But bit by bit, everything changed. Now, we’re lucky if they toss us something once a day. They don’t have any food themselves. Now the lizardfolk have started stealing prisoners at night. Mainly elves, but they sometimes make off with a gnome, too. Bastards!”

“Yeah, looks like you’ve split off into groups.”

“With good reason,” the gnome snorted and cleared his throat. “We don’t stand a chance against those monstrosities unarmed and with no armor. Think of the guys sitting on sentry as sacrificing themselves for the sake of the women and children.”

“And why have they been keeping you here so long?”

“They’re waiting for Stenborg to fall so they can sell us back to our families. The thing is, not all the gnomes wanted to meet our foe in the capital.”

“Yeah, you mentioned Clan Red Axe.”

“Hammer,” Madi corrected me. “Red Hammer.”

I shrugged my shoulders. Sure. Naturally, he couldn’t see that. He kept talking.

“When Stenborg falls, the war will be over. And your nobles want to ransom us off after that.”

“So, the Steel King is not planning to kill all the gnomes?”

“No,” Madi shook his head. “They told us he promised the elders of the undermountain clans immunity if they give up the queen. If we’re still alive, it means our elders have yet to give the king a clear response.”

“Curious,” I snorted. “In other words, your elders are either stalling to keep you alive, or they really are considering betraying their queen.”

“We think so, too,” Madi nodded and gulped with a dry throat.

“And which theory do you consider most plausible?” I clarified.

“Either one,” the gnome shrugged.

I whistled quietly.

“Ah, so then…”

My whistle Madi ignored.

“As far as I know, this is the only place prisoners are being kept. And among them are family members of the elders. They’re stalling. That is a fact. It’s a way of prolonging the lives of their children and grandchildren. But we also can’t write off the possibility they give up our queen to Egbert.”

“Not everyone a fan of Gallia?”

“Since the start,” Madi nodded. “And I understand why her mother-in-law got rid of her back in the day.”

He seemed to truly believe he was speaking with a ghost, which was why he was being so open.

“And everyone is sick to death of this war with the darksiders,” he said. “The gnomes haven’t gone to war with anyone in a long time. Little dustups with feral kobolds excepted. Perhaps, back in Gallia’s day, we were a warrior people, but now we are accustomed to solving problems with money and contracts. You cannot even imagine how much money our clans have lost. But who cares about money?! Influence! That’s what’s been lost! And in every country, all at once. Banks, shops, offices, warehouses. Very few were able to evacuate all their wares from the human cities. Everything my people built so painstakingly, Gallia destroyed in an instant when she declared war on Egbert.”

“I remember you supporting her.”

“Yes,” he nodded. “And I still do. Because I know the true nature of the Steel King and his retinue. Because I have seen necromancers turn my countrymen into subservient necromorphs to do their bidding.”

I shook my head. Ahem… That made me partially understand when Gallia said she was not cut out to be a ruler. I could easily believe it.

“Have they been keeping you in this pen for long?” I decided to get to action.

“Yes,” the gnome responded. “We’re being held in one place so they can split the profit evenly later. If they decide to ransom us…”

“I see,” I said. “That will save us time.”

Madi frowned. What I said seemed to have thrown him for a loop.

“Y’know,” he muttered. “You’re pretty odd for a ghost. Too talkative…”

I chuckled.

“Are you saying you’ve talked to other ghosts before?”

Madi looked embarrassed. Then a smile blossomed on his face. He seemed to have realized how stupid what he just said was.

“But still… I always thought ghosts… That they were… Different…”

“Ah, Mister Belvokrut,” I snorted, standing to my feet. “I am of course far from an expert on ghosts and phantoms such as yourself. As a matter of fact, I have never encountered one before. But I can tell you that I am one hundred percent certain that I have not died, and do not plan to do so any time soon.”

Madi shuddered and propped himself up on an elbow. His eyes opened wide.

“Rick?” he whispered with lips alone. “Is that you? Is it really you? You’re alive?”

“Yes, my friend,” I replied. “And as proof, here you go.”

I set a bottle of satiety potion on the gnome’s outstretched hand.

Madi shuddered in surprise and stared half-blind at the item in his hand, which had appeared out of nowhere.

“As I’m sure you understand, I cannot show myself to you right now,” I explained. “They’d spot me right away. And then my plan to save you would go up in flames.”

“Plan…” the gnome stammered, unable to believe what was happening.

“Yes, my friend. Did you really think I’d leave you and all the other unfortunate souls here to wait for your elders to make a decision? Or would you rather I didn’t? Do you maybe trust the wisdom of your leaders?”

Madi grunted. And a happy smile blossomed on his face.

“Now I really believe it is you, my friend Eric! What should I do?”

This is why I respect him so much. He instantly jumps up to speed. The gnome sitting before me was no longer dying of starvation. He was back to the wheeler-dealer, ready to jump into a maelstrom of intrigue and profit. Like the day I first met him in Ironville.

“First thing’s first,” I started. “You should get all the prisoners in one place and get ready to make a run for it. Try to make it look natural. Do not attract attention from the guards.”

“I understand,” he nodded and said grimly: “The gnomes and elves are weak. Many are an inch away from passing. We won’t be able to run far…”

“Don’t you worry about that,” I said. “I promise I’ll get everyone out. Your concern is to get them all together and wait for me. Don’t be afraid. Look at the ground.”

Madi nodded and looked down. Then shuddered. There were now fifty bottles of satiety potion laying in a neat little pile.

“That should be more than enough,” I said quietly. “Better get started. You don’t have much time.”

“Where are you going?” Madi asked, overly frightened and looking embarrassed by his moment of weakness.

“Don’t worry, my friend,” I said and placed a hand on his shoulder, making the gnome shiver slightly. “I will keep my word. I just have a few loose ends to tie up. One of them is to take down the three lizardfolk over there that just snuck into the pen. They must have made a deal with the guards.”

Madi first tried to turn and look where I pointed, but I stopped him.

“Don’t move! Let them think nobody sees them.”

I gave him an approving shoulder slap and whispered:

“Get moving. And don’t you worry about a thing! You will not die today.”

After saying that, I went smoothly behind him and dashed toward the distant fence where I’d noticed suspicious movement a minute earlier.

“Level thirty-two, thirty-four, and thirty-five,” the spirit reported back. “Nobody around. They outwitted themselves. Nobody will hear or see a thing.”

I nodded and sped up. Near the fence, I stopped just as the last lizardman jumped onto the ground. The girthy ten-foot-tall brutes were in some way reminiscent of the draks from the snake nest. Their movements were quiet and fluid. Long split-tipped tongues flitted in and out of their mouths. Tasting the air. Based on their jerky movements and drooling mouths, the ugly bastards were about to have a blood feast right in the pen.

But they didn’t make it far from the fence. A dark-energy-enhanced lightning immobilized them for three minutes. They fell to the ground like sacks of turnips, limbs splayed out awkwardly.

The system let me know I’d overdone it on dark energy slightly when it sent a text reporting on the death of one of the lizards. All the better. I only need one anyway.

The other two were tougher. They laid on the ground, staring wide eyed into the darkness with their huge bulging lizard eyes.

I hunched over one of them. The highest level of the trio. His purple tongue was lolling out of his toothy maw, making him look like a dead snake.

“I assume you’re in charge. Listen to me very carefully. Unfortunately, it’s already too late to save your buddies. But you could survive. Just answer a few questions in a secluded location and I will set you free.”

After saying that, I summoned Gorgie, who pulped the head of the second surviving lizard on my order in one swipe of the paw. Then the harn loomed over the one I was talking to, snatched him by the neck and jumped straight into a portal I opened.

We were standing in the middle of a hall on the first level of the Temple of Nyx. It was quiet as a graveyard. There were no signs of the pitched battles with subterranean monsters I’d fought just a few days before. The kobolds had scoured the place of carrion. Little gluttons.

The bodies of the three lizardfolk were lying on the ground a few steps from me. Gorgie had also snatched up the two dead ones on my instruction. The third one, the one in charge, had just barely started to move. The spell was wearing off.

The ten-foot monster slowly stood to his full height and bared his teeth. But surprisingly, he was in no rush to attack. He was keeping an eye on the harn, lying lazily at my feet. Honestly though, woe to all those dumb enough to think Gorgie unprepared for battle. The lizard was clearly no fool.

“Who are you? What do you want?” he hissed.

“I’ll be asking the questions, remember?” I took him down a peg. “So then. How are things going for your kind in the elven forests?”

The lizard shuddered. He clearly knows something. But is in no hurry to respond. Is he really thinking he’ll be able to defeat me?

“We’re wasting time,” I stated and activated the rest of my summoning amulets. “This is so you don’t fill your head with false hope.”

Upon seeing the giant snakes, the lizard fell to the ground and bared his teeth. The scales on the nape of his neck started vibrating. Hm… I would be scared, too.

“Answer me!” I barked, pressuring with will.

“The heart of the forest has gained power,” the man-eating lizard hissed, head hung low. “My brothers and sisters are losing battle after battle.”

“Then why do your chieftains continue to fight?” I asked.

The lizard shook his flat head stubbornly.

“Speak!” I barked again. “Tell me the truth and I’ll let you go.”

He looked around, haunted. He already could tell there were hundreds of eyes staring back at us from the darkness. The kobolds were on the scene.

“My queen sent riders for backup. Very soon, our horde will reach the elven forest.”

I rubbed my chin and nodded darkly.

“Okay then. You may go.”

The lizardman considered it briefly, then bolted into the darkness. And a few minutes later, a joint squeal echoed through the hall. The kobolds were on the hunt.

Did it make me feel bad? No. The maneater would get what he had coming. Should have stayed back in his jungles and not poked his head out. If you come to a foreign land to kill and eat the natives, be aware that you could always end up being hunted yourself.

* * *

After returning to the allied camp, the first thing I did was head out to Baron Beringar Ursus’ detachment. I should note that the old man was quite an active person. While I listened to the counts and barons, talked to Madi and interrogated the lizardman, Baron Ursus had gotten up to a flurry of activity.

As it turned out, all his troops as well as those of Count Boarg already wanted to leave camp. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn the sly old man had already given them the command to assemble before coming to the council. Basically, had I come a bit later, I would not have found my countrymen in the camp.

Other than Berence and Boarg’s retinues, another few Tarian barons had been sent out on “lookout duty” with their armies along with a column of carts. They turned into a small army of six hundred troops.

That army did not make it far. Baron Ursus ordered them to take defensive positions atop one of the Mountainshaker’s Hand’s stone “fingers.” The experienced commander and politician easily figured out Count Alce’s scheme. The baron got ready to fight off those he knew would soon be sent to follow him by the evil general.

I was standing on a ledge ten paces away from the collection of barons and their commanders, who were listening closely to their leader’s instructions. Under a canopy of invisibility, I was standing with my back to them and watching the hustle and bustle in the allied camp. Someone their had noticed the disappearance of all the prisoners.

As I promised Madi, I had sent all of the unfortunate souls via portal to Toggy Yojelle’s Stone Paths and ordered them to wait for me there.

“Sir Baron! Sir Baron!”

A watchman from the Tarian brigade shouted. He was posted a bit higher up, almost at the very peak of the finger cliff. He had also noticed the strange movement in the camp.

“Look!” the watchman shouted and pointed down.

The barons and troop commanders came closer to the ledge. And started staring at what was happening below. The sun had just started peeking out from beyond the horizon, but visibility was already good.

“What’s happening down there?” Viscount Boarg asked. He looked pale and disheveled. Even after the battle on the King’s Track, he didn’t look as pathetic as he did now. “Are they preparing to send pursuers after us?”

“That would be correct, my friend,” one of the barons grunted. A gaunt old man with fisheyes. He was talking to Beringar Ursus, who was frowning his gray brows and watching the hullaballoo in the camp closely. “Alce the snake has decided to get rid of us.”

“I think you’re being unfair to my cousin,” Adelric Boarg tried to defend his family member.

“Don’t flatter yourself, kid,” Baron Ursus said calmly. “I’d swear it to anyone. Alce has sentenced us to die. But I’m afraid what is happening down there is not because of us.”

“You are correct, Sir Baron!” I came and threw back my canopy of invisibility.

At the same time, I heard a fearsome hissing from two sides. The handful of barons and troop commanders was now encircled by a pair of snakes. And the monsters’ huge toothy heads were towering over them.

“Gentlemen, do not worry!” I laughed, staring the pale Tarian nobles in the eyes. “I will not harm you. You can reassure your subjects. Believe me, it’s in your own best interest.”

The men in the Tarian camp were preparing full swing for a fight with the group of giant creatures that had suddenly appeared behind their back lines.

“May I?” Baron Ursus asked and nodded at one of the troop commanders.

“Of course,” I allowed mercifully. “I repeat, you have nothing to worry about.”

Ursus muttered something to a troop commander, who dashed down a temporary corridor formed between the snakes. He was clearly running off to reassure the retinue men and coordinate the possible deflection of an attack.

“I think if Mister Bergman wanted to kill us, he would have done so a long time ago. Am I right?!”

Master Gunthrum chimed in. He had been watching his underling Viscount Boarg all that time like a silent shadow.

“Exactly right, Master Gunthrum,” I nodded at the mage.

Seeing that Baron Ursus was going to say something, I got out ahead:

“You’ll have time for questions later, gentlemen! I have a promise to keep!”

After saying that, I started activating my most powerful splash damage spells one after the next, dumping a generous amount of dark energy into each. Then, all Abyss broke loose on the Hand of the Mountainshaker.

Chapter 30

“NOW WE CAN TALK,” I said gravely and sat down on a big rock.

I had to strain to keep the calm expression on my face. Behind me, my spells had just slain a warband comprising almost three thousand intelligent creatures. The victory and loot messages were still flickering before my eyes.

Of course, after the underground temple with its high-level inhabitants and lesser demons, the allied warband was pretty weak sauce. A few of the nobles and mages held out a bit longer than the rest, but even they were unable to stand up against Kera’s dark energy.

The handful of Tarian barons and troop commanders I had essentially taken prisoner stared down at the chaos unfolding on the plateau with horror. A few of them seemed to sprout a couple new gray hairs.

The viscount was most afraid. But even I was fairly struck. I had never put that much dark energy into a spell before. From above, the camp looked like an ant hill someone had just poured a mixture of boiling pitch, fire and acid onto. The screams of agony will follow me for a long time.

“You monster!” the viscount wailed. He seemed to have been more affected than I thought. “You killed them all! You monster!”

Adelric wanted to say more, but Ursus suddenly turned and gave him a hard slap.

“Shut it, you little punk!” he barked. “Maybe you don’t care about your own life! But think of the rest of us!”

“Come now, baron!” I snorted. “Let him speak. If you think that snot-nosed punk could insult me bad enough to make me tear all your heads off, you are deeply mistaken about my character. Still, I will not lie. That little fop has been begging for a pop to the snout. His daddy must not have devoted too much time to raising his young scion. By the way, who was the dolt that suggested sending him here? I mean, this is a war, not some capital-city ball.”

I nodded down showily at the former allied camp.

“Why are we still alive?” Baron Ursus decided not to mess around.

“Because I want you to be,” I shrugged. “Beyond that, you are my countrymen.”

“There were a lot of Tarians down there, too,” the baron nodded. “But still you took them down.”

“I took them down because they were marauders and murderers who came to the land of my allies to stuff their pockets on the suffering of others. Ideally, I’d turn all of you into corpses, too.”

That made them shiver. The mask of hatred slipped off the viscount’s pale face. Now I saw only pure animal horror.

“But I promised not to touch those who heeded my warning. And I kept my word. In other words, I saved you again.”

The barons traded uncomprehending glances.

“Yes, yes, gentlemen,” I smiled. “The cousin of that young man there sentenced you to death and was about to order the lizardfolk and ice titans to come after you. He was going to portray your departure from camp as running away. Everyone in the Empire would have heard that you died as traitors and cowards. Need I remind you how that could have affected your families and friends?”

A few of the barons and troop commanders gave filthy curses. And they turned to look grimly at the viscount, who was all clenched up and seemingly wanted to hide behind the old mage’s scrawny back.

Still, I did not remind the viscount that he also stood to die and the Boargs would never have recovered, much less the others. Let him be nervous a bit.

“We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, sir magister, for saving us,” Baron Ursus placed a hand on his chest and gave a slight bow. The others did the same. The last to bend his back was the viscount, and that only after a push from the mage.

I nodded back silently and kept staring at my prisoners.

“So, sir magister, is that really all?” Baron Ursus quickly realized the conversation was not over.

“Indeed, it is not, baron,” I responded, staring deep into the old war-dog’s eyes. “I’d like to know your future plans.”

He did not look away but was also in no hurry to respond.

“Sir Baron,” I started. “In order to make this easier on everyone, let me tell you what comes next. As a loyal subject of the ruler of Taria, you will continue to carry out his order, and conduct combat operations on gnomish territory. In light of what has been said, I see three main ways this could go. One. You could try to join up with the Steel King, who you all mistakenly believe to be emperor. Option two – you could try to setup a new camp and keep plundering the holdings of the defenseless gnomish clans.”

I could tell by the old man’s eyes that he was planning on option one.

“But let me say one thing first,” I snorted. “Neither option one or two will get you very far. For the simple reason that I will not allow them. To put it more simply, you will all die.”

The barons frowned, stroked their beards and stared at one another.

“You said there were three options,” Master Gunthrum spoke up. The old man was calm. Unlike the barons and troop commanders, he had already guessed what I was about to suggest. And based on the look in his eyes, the old mage agreed with me completely.

“You have my gratitude, Master Gunthrum,” I nodded at the mage. “Indeed. There is also an option three for getting out of this situation. But before telling you what it is, I want to make sure all your warriors can hear what I have to say. The thing is, we’ll be talking about their lives, and it only seems fair for them to be able to decide their own fates.”

A few minutes later, all the Tarians I had saved gathered around Coal, who was coiled into a knot. The barons grudgingly gave their permission for me to make a speech to their troops. To be frank though, their permission didn’t count for much. I would have addressed the people either way.

I was standing up on Coal’s head, my legs planted wide, and my arms folded across my chest. I stared out wordlessly and the people stared back at me in silence. And based on their agitated and tense faces, they were impatiently awaiting word from the scary man who had just slain so many with a wave of his hand.

When a cryptlike silence fell over the camp, I started loudly:

“My name is Eric Bergman. My parents are Aren and Liana Bergman. I was born and raised in Orchus. I can see in your eyes that many of you here are my countrymen. I’d wager a few of you knew me personally or have heard my story.”

The crowd stirred. Some people whispered. A few nodded or said things to their neighbors. That broke the ice a bit, and the fear took a step back. They had just seen me in a different light.

“My father toiled away his whole life in the mines. My parents were honest people. They were respected and liked by their neighbors and friends. They were always willing to lend a hand. Ulf Lange can tell you if I’m lying.”

“Yes, Eric!” the headman shouted from the crowd. “They were good people! And let me repeat, I am sorry that they died!”

I nodded.

“After they died, I was sold to repay their debts to Bardan, a lanista and owner of the mines of the Crooked Mountains. There, I was ordered by a group of scouts to scour a set of stone-worm burrows in search of secret symbols for Bardan and the Order of Mages. On the first sign of danger, the scouts left me to be devoured by a subterranean creature while they ran away. As a matter of fact, that’s what they did with every child they took down there. Only the gods can say how many innocent souls met an early end because of those bastards.”

A wave of indignation ran down the ranks of warriors. Some reacted stormily. Others just stood there staring at a fixed point. For instance, if Baron Ursus’ look could set fires, I would now have a nasty little scorch hole in my chest. He had seemingly realized what I was planning.

“And what happened after that, Eric?!” A young retinue man shouted. He looked to be eighteen at most.

“I slew the creature!”

In reply, came a unified gasp. They believed my every word. And of course! Half an hour ago, they had witnessed the sudden demise of an army three-thousand strong. And the one who caused it was now making a big speech in front of them.

“And became a mage! Then I found the mystery symbols Bardan’s scouts spent so long searching for. And those symbols recognized something about me! Because in my veins flows the blood of the Ancients!”

The crowd fell silent. Hundreds of pairs of eyes were transfixed by my every move.

“After that, I found an ancient Monster Hunter city and harnessed its magic for myself! And there, I closed my first Dark Portal. Let me be frank, if I had not done so, it would have been a year, eighteen months at most before an otherworldly gateway would have opened at the bottom of the caverns of the Crooked Mountains, and we would have had to contend with some really terrifying creatures.”

I chuckled.

“So, that get through to you?! Picture hordes of dark bloodthirsty monsters coming from those mountains! Because they are but a stone’s throw from Orchus…”

“Are you saying, Mister Bergman, that you saved Orchus from destruction?” An acrid smile started playing on the face of the baron who asked the question.

“That’s just the beginning,” I replied calmly, ignoring his skepticism. “I’m certain the otherworldly attack would have destroyed the majority of Taria and Fradia, as well. In fact, that was how the Dark Continent became Dark in the first place.”

The people looked impressed. I had seemingly just opened their eyes to many things.

“But that’s not what I wanted to talk about…” I said. Then, waiting for everyone to settle down, I continued: “Now I want to give you a choice. Not a choice your commanders and lords will make for you. Your own choice! And so this doesn’t just sound like talk…”

I waved a hand, and a portal arch appeared a step away from me. On the other side, they could see the outlines of trees and ponds.

“Hey, that’s Central Park!” the same young retinue man exclaimed, taking a twitchy step forward. “So, that’s Orchus? Right?”

A light of hope lit in his eyes.

“None other,” I laughed and added: “Home.”

Gasps of delight ran down the crowd. But their euphoria wasn’t to last. They recalled where they were and who they had sworn allegiance to.

“One step, and you could be home. With your families. Think about them. Your wives, children and parents! You now have a unique opportunity today to hug them and spend the night in your own homes surrounded by family! Go spend the night in your own beds!”

The longer I spoke, the grimmer the peoples’ faces became. They kept glancing at their commanders. And they clearly felt uncomfortable with the grim looks.

“So, will we die if we stay?” a boy asked me unexpectedly.

And the crowd suddenly fell dead silent.

I could see sadness and a realization that his fate was sealed in the young retinue man’s eyes. Even a fool could see that they could not return home without commanders and go unpunished. Deserters would be hung by the nearest lamppost. This was essentially all a big act I was putting on for Baron Ursus. He specifically would come to define the fates of all these people. And based on the way the old man was staring at me, he realized that perfectly well.

“What is your name?” I asked the boy.

“Kuno,” he replied. “Kuno Meyer, sir.”

“Of the Meyers that have a farm on the outskirts of Wheatear?”

“Yes, sir!” Kuno said, delighted.

“I know your father,” I smiled. “My mother always said Heimo Meyer made the best farmer’s cheese.”

The kid gave a big smile. Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.

“I’m sure your parents would love to see you again,” I nodded.

“My mom has probably already stuffed the Temple of the Great Protectress full of offerings,” the kid replied sadly. Only then did I realize how much younger he was than I thought. We were the same age.

“Let me answer your question, Kuno,” I said coldly. The kid shuddered. And not just him. I had to suppress it with my will. Baron Ursus could also sense the change in my voice. He went all pale. I must have overdone it.

“I have no good news for you, Kuno,” I kept talking. “Or any of you!”

I looked around coldly at the disorganized ranks.

“As I already said to your commanders, even though we are countrymen, we are fighting on different sides. You came to gnomish territory as invaders. You are aiding the Steel King and his necromancers in the destruction of the Undermountain Kingdom. The gnomes are my allies. And I am fighting against Darkness! Leaving combat-capable enemy formations behind my backlines would be criminal!”

I turned to look at the young retinue man.

“Did that answer your question, Kuno?”

The boy looked downcast and breathed a heavy sigh. The people were crestfallen. They realized they stood no chance against me.

Baron Ursus and I met gazes. Well, old man. Make up your mind! This is your chance to save yourself and your people! I did not want to consider the fact that I would have to kill all these people if he refused. But if need be, my hand would not waver. I knew that for certain. I remembered the captive gnomes and elves hobbling their way through the portal arch. Hungry, haggard. Many had to be carried out. And some were children… Yeah, my hand would not waver!

My thoughts seemed to be reflected on my face and the old baron understood everything. He shuddered like he’d just woken up and looked around at his warband.

“Troop commanders!” he roared suddenly.

Oh, the sheer amount of hope in his warriors’ eyes! And the old baron did not let the trusting people down.

“Let’s pack up camp! I’m sick to death of these mountains! We’re going home!”

The other barons also started giving orders to their troop commanders. Because Viscount Boarg was completely shut down, Master Gunthrum gave commands for him.

A cry of joy ran over the cliffs from the several hundred soldiers.

Then, a few hours later, as the last retinue man stepped through the portal arch, Baron Ursus and I were left one on one.

“Be careful, kid,” the old man said suddenly. “Egbert has amassed a lot of power. The gnomes will not last long.”

“Thank you for the warning, baron,” I nodded and said: “Do me a favor.”

“You have my attention,” he shifted to a more formal tone.

“Tell our king to stop acting stupid. He should wait. If the Steel King asks for aid, have him stall for time.”

“I understand. Anything else?”

“That’s all.”

The old man bowed respectfully and, turning suddenly, disappeared into the portal. Then, a minute later, the arch disappeared into thin air, and I breathed a sigh of relief. It worked! I really did not want to kill them.

I stood there for a bit staring at the plateau where the allied war camp had been just that morning and sighed. Then, not turning, I said:

“Come out. I know you’re here.”

“Yes, Great One,” I heard Lu-Tari’s rasping voice behind me.

The kobold matriarch walked up quietly and froze to my right.

“You killed them all, great one!” she said, enraptured, nodding at the Mountainshaker’s Hand. She was seemingly being sincere. “None were able to hide!”

The spirit told me a while ago that the kobold matriarch was never far from us.

“What happened to the lizard?” I asked, ignoring her jubilation.

“My children got a nice meal.”

“Why were you with us the whole time?” I asked.

“I was watching to make sure no one dared to kill you, my lord.”

Hm… Not lying.

“The gnomes…” she started.

“Forget it,” I threw out harshly. “Don’t you or your children dare harm them. Got it?”

Lu-Tari tucked her head between her shoulders and fell to the ground. I must have overdone it with Will again. It was harder to control since the Archdemon Amulet had doubled it.

“I understand, Great One,” the matriarch exhaled painfully.

“Alright,” I said, letting up the pressure. “I have an instruction for you.”

“Anything, my lord,” the matriarch bowed her head obediently.

“I destroyed an enemy camp using powerful spells.”

“Very powerful!” she nodded.

“Exactly,” I confirmed. “And as you understand, things like that do not go unnoticed.”

“They will come here to figure out what happened,” the matriarch guessed.

“They are sure to come,” I said. “I do not know when it will happen, but they cannot get out of here alive.”

The matriarch first opened her mouth to respond, but I stopped her.

“Most likely, whoever comes here will be very powerful. Neither you nor your children will be able to handle them. I do not want you to die. I just need a signal from your amulet, and I will come to kill them.”

“I understand, my lord,” the matriarch bowed. “We will do as you command.”

“I knew I could count on you. And remember, you just have to send me a signal. Do not do anything stupid no matter what. If the person I’m expecting comes here, you will be no match for them.”

Chapter 31

MUCH TO MY SURPRISE, my trap tripped early. The kobold matriarch’s signal amulet alerted me one day after I left the plateau. We just so happened to be on the Stone Paths.

Gorgie had caught scent of Toggy Yojelle and his troops and led us easily into the heart of Stenborg. Well, more accurately ― the subterranean part of Stenborg.

To say the gnomes and elves I freed were haggard would be an understatement. The captivity had a particularly bad effect on the children. If not for my potions, then the spell’s healing effect, the kids would have been all dead in a matter of days.

Other than the children, another few dozen adult gnomes and elves were also on the brink of death. The lizardfolk captured them when they were already wounded, travelling away from a battle back to camp to heal up.

And some of the forest dwellers were mages. For the record, they had nothing against the dark sorcery I used to heal them. They watched me tensely and with suspicion but didn’t show that they were upset. Which had me slightly puzzled. It was enough to recall Pinebogey spewing venom the last time we met. I was expecting, to put it lightly, a less restrained reaction, which would possibly go as far as refusing to accept help from “Darkness incarnate.”

I was lost in guesses and, seemingly, had found an explanation. It was hard to call it complex, but it made a certain amount of sense. The thing was that the heart of the forest Pinebogey had gotten from me, how to put it… hadn’t spent quite as much time with me. Full contact, if I can put it that way, was something I had only made with the last two seeds. I even gave them names. And Lazybones and I were even able to chat before I gave it to Mee. Bad Seed meanwhile, whose keeper had become Tananth, got along well with me. They helped me, and I them.

And thus Tananth, now conducting a partisan war in his homeland or rather Bad Seed, who was behind him, perceived my “changing to the Dark side” as less clear-cut.

The elves I’d saved didn’t say anything like that to me. They belonged to a different clan which had simply decided to accept Tananth’s command. They hadn’t even seen Bad Seed yet. Never had time. The lizardfolk attacked their Grove before they could get out. But they had a connection with the Heart of the Forest. In fact, they still had a connection, which had not broken for a second.

It was thanks to that connection the poor wretches were able to hold out so long in captivity. Many of course died. Some from wounds, and others just got eaten by the lizardfolk. They were the poor bastards whose heads I’d seen on pikes around the lizard camp. But despite that, the survivors all agreed that the Heart of the Forest was constantly lending them courage.

Hm… So, Bad Seed was more powerful now.

It had to be able to sense me through its subjects. And more specifically, through the mages. Particularly after I used a dark healing spell. And even after that, the elves were not hostile. That was very good. Bad Seed seemingly did not view me as an enemy. That gave me hope that Mee would not have to choose between me and the Heart of the Forest under his care. To my eye, Lazybones was the smartest one. My intuition was telling me they’d actually be glad to see me in the Stone Forest. But for now, that was pure imagination.

Anyhow, a day later, I got a signal from the matriarch. Someone must have dropped by the plateau. I had to leave the former prisoners and take a portal back.

When I told Madi I had to ditch them, and it was possible we wouldn’t see one another again for a while, my personal attorney looked noticeably tense. I had to give a quick explanation and promise to be very careful and not risk my life without very good reason.

I was not worried the people I was guiding would get lost in the caverns. It was actually a funny thought. They were gnomes, after all. And although the paths belonged to Toggy Yojelle, his countrymen could find their way around. And they could lead the elves out at the same time. Now that would come as a surprise to my “neighbor.” I wanted to see the surprise on his red-bearded face. Heh…

Before diving through the portal arch, I took one final look at the procession of gnomes and elves. Good thing I never told them I also saved a few hundred of the Tarians who doubtlessly took part in the plundering and attacks. They didn’t need to know that. Let them think their tormentors all died. As an aside, I didn’t feel the least bit bad about killing all those intelligent creatures. Particularly after I saved a three-year-old gnome myself whose parents had essentially given up hope for her recovery. But potions and my magic helped the kid climb out of the hole. No… I do not regret punishing people who brought so much suffering on a child.

* * *

“What do we have here?” I asked quietly to Lu-Tari, who was hiding behind a big boulder.

“He is here, Great One,” the matriarch whispered, nodding toward the plateau where the allied warband had their camp just one day prior. “Came out of a portal. Walking around. Sniffing the air.”

I peeked around the boulder. It only took me a glance to recognize Magister Sato in the short gaunt man wrapped in black robes.

Uh… I of course realized I might catch a fish in my trap, but this was a shark. Maybe it was for the best.

His master cannot find out what happened here. So, the old man cannot leave. It’s either him or me. Uh… I didn’t think I would cross paths with one of the Steel King’s most powerful servants so soon.

Before going down, I summoned all my pets and had them sneak up onto the plateau from multiple directions. But not to attack without my command. I summoned them in advance because Sato might have had an amulet like the one I took off of Lu-Moa’s body. A summoning blocker. Hopefully, the four of us together would have better chances.

While coming down the path winding between the stones, I listened to my heart. No fear. I felt slightly on edge, like every time before battle. But that was all. I was calm about everything else. Even surprisingly so. Must have been my experience. Over the last eighteen months, I’ve been doing nothing but fighting. And my foes were always significantly higher level than me.

“Be careful,” Kera whispered into my ear. “I can sense my father’s mark on this man.”

I frowned and asked:

“Man? Is he not a primordial?”

“No,” the goddess replied. “He is a man. A very powerful mage. Prepare yourself and slay him. He will provide me with a great deal of energy.”

“Can you see his level?” I asked with hope.

“I can,” she snorted. “But I cannot tell you. You know the rules. Take the priesthood, then…”

“I see,” I cut her off. She could tell me everything. She just doesn’t want to. She’s trying to turn me into a puppet.

But there’s also an upside. She’s sure I can win. Otherwise, she’d have tried to convince me not to fight.

“Magister Sato!” I exclaimed while walking out from behind a rock. “What a pleasant surprise!”

I spread my arms and gave a broad smile as if meeting an old friend.

The old man gave a slight twitch and looked up. Two angry eyes stared back at me from beneath his hood. If I had not shown myself, he would not have been able to detect me. That’s good. Means he can’t detect my beasts. He really is looking around, though.

I could have attacked the old man without warning, but I needed information. What if Sato wanted to chat before battle? I knew most likely it was a mistake, but information could also be important. I hope I won’t regret this.

“So, you survived then?” Sato grumbled out angrily. It sounded somehow too old-mannish. I could hear exhaustion in his voice.

“What, you hear different?” I snorted and slowly started coming forward.

Sato snorted. But made no response. Ahem… Not a big talker. But what did I expect? I should have attacked straight away.

Sato looked around at the wasteland covered in a layer of black ash and asked:

“Your handiwork?”

“Yes,” I answered.

“Don’t you feel bad? I mean, some of them were your countrymen.”

“No, not at all. Those men were killers and marauders.”

“She satisfied then?” the old man asked with a slight squint. A big fat hint that he knew about Kera. He thinks she’s controlling me. Let him. I won’t try to change his mind.

“Yes,” I nodded. “But it wasn’t enough for my goddess. I mean, you know how it goes, right?”

I can make allusions, too, creep.

Sato sighed wearily.

“Stupid boy,” he said grumpily. “What was it you lacked? I mean, everything came together impossibly well for you. Had you done as his Majesty ordered, you would have made good.”

I tilted my head to one side and stared at the old man.

“Are you referring to the fact that I was to become magister of the Hunters, then conduct an induction rite for Isamu Takeda and his troops? What about how Takeda was then supposed to slay me when my use ran out? Honestly, if not for that, I’d have gotten Egbert his crown. But after that…”

“Think for yourself. Why would his Majesty want you dead?”

“Funny. Do you even hear yourself?”

Sato ignored my barb.

“And instead of doing things the right way, you stirred up this whole pot of trouble!”

Hm… He was actually being sincere. Did he really believe it?

“What do you mean?” I asked with cartoonish surprise. Although I understood what the clever old man was hinting at. He was about to repeat everything Magister Shitang had told me. There was just one good thing – the supreme magister of the Order of Mages had not given me up. He must have made his decision. Either that or, more plausibly, decided to stall for time and see how this would all end.

As I thought, Sato started trying to heap all the blame on me for what was happening in the world. He mentioned the gnomish queen being brought back to life and the hearts of the forest. Basically, he decided to make me out as some kind of extremist. Supposedly, my actions had forced the Steel King to summon the ancient servants of his house. Alrak and the rest. Well, well. Amusing. Shitang had seemingly intentionally made it so I would be prepared for all his accusations.

By the time Sato was finished, and he was seemingly totally assured of what he was saying, I said with a smirk:

“So, what you’re saying is that I am the real all-encompassing evil and threat to the world? Am I the one opening the dark portals? Did I bring an undead army into this world? Do you really take me for such a simpleton?”

“Big words for the follower of such an abhorrent dark goddess!” Sato gave a forced chuckle. “Do you have the slightest idea who you’re trying to bring to this world, you fool? I can sense the power of your mark! It means you have dedicated one altar to her! You know, a group of somewhat mightier beings tried to stop you from doing that! Of course you’re a simpleton! What else should I call you?!”

“I’m not the one who started planting altars!” I barked back.

The old man tensed up. His face went pale and stretched out. I had seemingly managed to knock him off course.

“What is that supposed to mean?” the mage’s voice was shaking with tension. “Neither I nor my lord would dare violate the ancient pact under any circumstances!”

“What pact now?” I asked in surprise.

“The one my lord’s ancestor and several other powers that be made with the last of the Departed. The ones who closed the final Rift between our world and that of the gods!”

“Are you referring to a Knight of the Rift?”

“Yes, boy!” Sato shouted out, annoyed. “Our world was a hairsbreadth from its downfall. Cruel gods from a distant world decided to lay claim to our world. It was a miracle we avoided catastrophe. And now you dare accuse me and my lord of trying to open another rift?!”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“In one way or another, it isn’t stopping you from bearing the mark of Erebus, God of Shadows.”

“That’s apples and oranges,” the old man said indignantly. “I worship my god, but I am not trying to bring him to our world!”

“Then someone else is. I personally destroyed an anomaly on the site where Foreston once stood, and along with it a sacrificial altar to Shkha-Ras.”

I was not afraid to mention the anomaly. The omnipresent Sato probably already knew about Black Annis’ demise. See, he isn’t even surprised. The altar to the necromancer god did catch him off guard though.

“You’re lying!” Sato growled. “That’s impossible!”

“Why would I lie?” I chuckled. “They even tried to sacrifice me to that wretched god. Honestly though, they didn’t get very far…”

Sato’s eyes now looked like a pair of tea saucers. His pale face gave way to a rosy glow. The nostrils of his hooked nose puffed greedily as if smelling blood.

“That changes a lot…” he whispered with lips alone. But I heard him.

And an instant later, events started moving at a whirlwind pace. The old man waved a hand sharply and the hollow filled with an impenetrable fog. A dark shield wrapped my body, but no damage messages followed. Switching to magic vision, I stared at where Magister Sato had been standing just a minute before.

He vanished! Again! I started looking around feverishly.

“He’s gone,” Kera told me unhappily. “How did I end up with the absolute klutziest mortal in existence!”

The old man’s speed was striking. I didn’t even manage to properly react. So that’s what level and experience can get you. No, I was wrong. Sato was no shark, he was a slippery eel! He’d probably run off to report his latest findings to his master. Ah… I should have attacked straight away instead of talking!

* * *

“Everything okay?” Madi asked me. We had just sat down for a break in a cave permeated with the appetizing aroma of roast meat. Gorgie had a successful hunt before we returned, and we brought back a few mountain rams, which the former prisoners quickly butchered and started cooking over the fires.

I could see smiles of delight on the faces of the gnomes and elves I had saved. I though was not in a good mood. And it was all because I had let Magister Sato escape so easily. Yet again…

“You look devastated, my friend,” Madi said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I took a heavy sigh.

“I think I made an unforgiveable error… The consequences could be extremely hard to predict…”

“Don’t mope, my friend,” Madi smiled and shook me by the shoulder. “Look at us!”

I raised my head.

“We’re alive! Do you understand?”

“Yes, but…”

Madi interrupted me softly.

“Eric, I do not know what happened out there. It was probably something very serious. But I know one thing for certain – no matter how hard we try, there’s simply no way to predict everything. Not even the gods can do that.”

After saying that, I heard a very faint scornful laugh from Kera. Honestly though, it didn’t sound all that confident.

“Take a look at these poor saps,” Madi said and pointed a hand at our little rest area. “Just a few days ago, all of them, me included, were readying themselves for a journey to the afterlife. Some of us would have frozen to death, while others died from wounds or starved. When we started talking, if you recall, I thought you were a ghost. Hehe! But now we’re all sitting around bonfires eating hot food. And all that is thanks to you, my friend! And none of us here could have ever thought things would turn out this way. We have all been given a chance to see our families and friends again! Do you understand what I’m talking about?”

I had to nod in a sign of agreement. Still, I should have seen Sato’s escape coming. And that thought weighed heavily on my mind. Now the Steel King would know the troops he left in reserve had been slain. And that I was no longer on the Dark Continent, but here, right under his nose.

My only reassurance was the fact that Egbert would have questions for Alrak, who was clearly up to something. Perhaps he would figure out the wicked lich’s scheme. A thought kept swirling around in my head, but I just could not grasp onto it. It kept slipping away. At times, it felt like I could reach out and touch it, but still full awareness would not come.

“Hrn,” Gorgie warned me, appearing from out of nowhere. He and the spirit had gone up ahead to scout.

Madi, unaccustomed to such tricks, shuddered.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, alarmed. “Your beast smell something?”

I turned my head toward the gnome and smiled. The spirit had just told me everything he had seen up ahead.

“Everything is fine, my friend,” I said. “Get yourself together. Because in a few hours you will stand before your queen.”

Chapter 32

AS GORGIE AND LIONHEART had warned, there were people waiting for us. I gave everyone a chance to eat and get some rest. Then, a few hours later, I told them all the good news. And as it turned out, not everyone saw it that way.

We caught up to them in a huge cave divided in half by a yawning fissure. It was sixty feet across. No problem for my characteristics, but the former prisoners, particularly the children would find it insurmountable.

I saw a narrow little path stretching along the stone wall. But that was not a viable option, either. My refugees would surely lose lives there. I suspected that Toggy had led his troops another way but, alas, it was well concealed. The only solution was to get my poor saps across with a portal. I’d have to jump, but that was hardly something new.

However, on the other side of the small gap, I saw neatly arranged rows of full-body gnomish shields, bristling with spears, halberds and poleaxes. There were a few mages as well. And standing at the head of the warband was Gallia Longbraid in the flesh.

For some reason, she was in no rush to help her subjects, and the former prisoners also felt out of sorts. And one could easily think their suffering had come to an end! There she is – the queen and her warriors! And that means we’re saved! Or so I thought. But for some reason the gnomes were thinking and acting differently. The elves by the way also looked downcast.

A familiar figure split off from the wall of shields and headed toward the crevasse. I also took a step forward.

We stopped opposite one another, divided by the dark chasm. Hm… Symbolic. But alas, as much as I may have wanted it, our former friendship was gone for good. Was it ever really a friendship anyway? The amulet Gallia gave me was probably the guarantor of our relationship, but I no longer had it, much less a personal friendship with the one who gave it to me.

It actually sounded nice… Get a good feeling, give an amulet. Have a change of heart, take it away. And the fact she never sent aid to Foreston, well, our agreement had a lot of loopholes. I didn’t pay them much attention at the time, thinking we were doing one thing while Gallia it turned out had a very different opinion.

“Not a lot of people as hard to kill as you!” Gallia came with a mixture of pity and surprise.

I chuckled. I had heard that before …

“Looking as gorgeous as ever, your Majesty!” I gave a deep bow with a big smile. “If I may be so bold, I hope you’re happy to see your personal friend and ally alive and well!”

“Ever since you were tarnished with the despicable mark of the Corpse Devourer, we ceased being friends and allies!” Gallia shouted loudly, clenching her fists.

Interesting to hear another name for my “benefactor.” Surprisingly, the goddess had no reaction to the gnome’s insult. Still, knowing her nature, what Gallia said was no insult to her.

“Let me remind you something, your Majesty,” I objected. “You probably forgot, but you ceased considering us allies much earlier than that!”

“That an accusation?” she asked, arching a brow.

“A simple statement of fact!”

I was using a formal tone and doing my best to stick to rules of polite conduct. Knowing her hot-tempered nature, this could explode into a conflict with the slightest provocation. The very fact I was here, on a Stone Path which was theoretically supposed to be secret, and even had a Dark mark on my body – what about that was not an incitement?

The last thing I wanted was to get into a conflict with the ruler of the gnomes. In fact, we needed to work together. Perhaps our former arrangements were now invalid, but we still very much shared a common enemy.

Gallia was also moving slow. Puffing out her cheeks fearsomely. Shooting lightning bolts from her eyes. Turning blood to ice in my veins with her cold tone. But despite all that, she was in no rush to attack. Even though she would have been within her rights. I had now essentially invaded her holdings. She needs me now, too. She knows it, and I know it.

“And what would you do in my place?” she asked unexpectedly.

To be honest, I was mentally prepared to hear a string of insults and mutual reproach, but her question threw me off a bit.

“Picture a scale. On one side is everyone who’s life depends fully on you.” Gallia continued. Someone less familiar with the queen of the gnomes’ character might have thought she was trying to justify herself to me. But I already knew her well.

“And the other side, I assume, is your duty to your allies, whose city is being stormed by a superior enemy force?” I finished for her.

“Exactly right!” the gnome responded, not even considering backing down. “I made my decision. I don’t regret a thing.”

“I also made a decision!” I answered firmly. “And I do not intend to justify it to anyone!”

I could have easily told her that I fought the invaders to the end, covering the foxfolks’ retreat. That I used the orbs’ dark energy only so I could hold out as long as possible before dying. And that I got the dark mark unknowingly. There was a lot I could have said. But I didn’t. Ever since Gallia made her choice, I had torn her out of my heart forever. She was a stranger to me now, as I was to her. The only thing uniting us then was our common enemy.

“Was that why you came to my land and stopped my warriors from killing the invading scum?” Gallia asked, squinting slightly. “Then took all my golems?”

“Your Majesty, you are misremembering again,” the gnome was not a big fan of my beaming smile. “Those golems are the ones you promised me for bringing you the crystal fragments. I simply took what belonged to me.”

Gallia started grinding her teeth. If looks could burn, I’d have been turned into a pillar of ash on the spot. But how was I to know? Maybe the legendary primordial was actually capable of pulling off tricks like that. I should have been more careful, but I did not intend to show weakness. This gnome respects the powerful and self-confident.

“As for those trespassing upon your lands,” I continued, getting ahead of the gnome, who was already about to tell me her thoughts on what happened. “The allied camp is no more.”

Gallia stumbled. What I said seemed to have puzzled her. And here I thought she already knew. Until that very moment, I considered gnomish intelligence among the best in our world. The queen must have exhausted her resources.

“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked, sincerely astounded. “What could have happened to an army comprising several thousand troops?”

She even turned around and glanced demandingly into the crowd of gnomes who were listening to our strange conversation and biting their tongues.

“I got rid of them.”

Gallia shuddered and stared directly into my eyes. At first, I saw doubt in her face, but a minute later her eyes widened. She had realized I was not trying to deceive her.

“Are you trying to say that you were able to kill several thousand mortals all by yourself?”

“Well, not exactly…”

“Oh yeah!” Gallia quipped and gave a sidelong smile. “Your liege! She’s the one who shared all that power with you. And you stupidly accepted her. Very soon, she will make you her puppet. In fact, I may already not be speaking with poor little Eric. What do you say, Kera? Is the unfortunate boy already under your complete control?”

Suddenly, those very words forced my patron goddess to speak up. Honestly though, only I could hear it.

“She is powerful,” the goddess whispered into my ear. “Very powerful. Just what I need.”

And that was all. Not another word. What does that mean?

“Why are you here?” Gallia continued peppering me with questions. “What are you trying to achieve?”

“Your majesty,” I said calmly. “I’m sure you will find this hard to believe, but I am here to try and help your people.”

Gallia laughed out loud. And her laughter echoed off the cave walls. In it was the full spectrum of emotion: exhaustion, frustration, anger. Everything but happiness.

“You’re right, darksider! I have no faith in you. But still, I’ll hear one last thing.”

The last sentence sounded menacing. The last thing I needed was a quarrel with an enraged primordial.

“What do you want?” she repeated forcefully.

“To kill our enemies,” I responded. “But I can’t do it alone.”

Gallia suddenly pushed off from the ground and, spreading her arms like wings, easily sailed over the chasm as if it were a little roadside ditch.

I had a hard time staying in place, but I did still activate a shield in case she wanted to give me a whack with her poleaxe on the way out.

She reacted to my preparations with a scornful chuckle. As if to say, “never fear, little one, I’m not going to touch you.”

“I see the sack of Foreston has taught you nothing,” she said, stopping five steps away from me. “What makes you say that? Can’t you see this war is practically over?”

“I don’t think so.”

The gnome tilted her head to one side and, squinting, looked me in the eyes.

“If any of the personality of the Eric I once knew is left in that body, heed my words. Drop everything and run, you hear me? Get rid of that brute’s label, use your amulet of the wanderer and flee to another world! Start over!”

Under different circumstances, I might have tried to object, but it just sounded so painfully sincere. I heard notes of pity and fatefulness in her voice. It was as if she was trying to tell me something very important.

“What do you have in mind?” I frowned.

Gallia gave a wide, ravening smile. Happy little devils were prancing about in her eyes.

“Egbert wants more power?” she whispered through her teeth. “Let him come! He will get it! We do not intend to surrender so easily!”

After saying that, she turned and got ready for another jump.

“I can help you, and I want to,” my voice sounded calm.

“Foolish boy!” the gnome threw out over her shoulder. “You are more powerful than before, but not enough…”

“Don’t rush into this,” I said. “We can handle it if we coordinate.”

The gnome shook her head as if she had heard another foolish, boyish idea.

“All I ask is for your support when the time comes. You will realize it when that is.”

Gallia said nothing back. Not a word or even gesture to indicate she might do as requested. But that was on the outside. I knew her well enough to realize that, if there was a chance of surviving, she would surely take it. I then in my turn would try to provide one. And not to her alone, to everyone.

Flee to some other world and leave Mee behind to be eaten by necromancers? I was getting the impression that Gallia was not trying to convince me to do that, but the exact opposite – she was trying to egg me on. If that really is true, she needs me. No, not as a friend. She’s just trying to use me. And as an aside, it’s what any politician would do.

After Gallia and I parted ways, a fairly wide stone bridge appeared out of thin air over the chasm, connecting the two sides.

I took a look. And a moment later, locked eyes with Toggy Yojelle. The red-headed gnome watched my every move with a dismal look. It was like he was expecting a trick at any second. I have no idea what kind of crazy ideas he’d filled his head with but, to put it lightly, he looked distraught. And no wonder. First, I robbed him of his victory over the Tarian brigade, then just snatched away a thousand golems, and now I was walking around his clan’s holiest of holies like I owned the place. And thinking back on our first meeting… Basically, it was an upsetting trend.

My “neighbor” was clearly expecting something radical out of his queen. To put it simply, Toggy was expecting her to punish the insolent intruder, i.e., me. But that’s slander. He’s not that kind of man… Hm… Or gnome rather. He doesn’t have a rotten bone in his body.

When the first refugees asked permission and thanked me before stepping onto the bridge, I heard Madi’s voice to the right.

“I truly believed you would make peace,” he said with a smile.

I just breathed a heavy sigh and waved a hand. Correctly interpreting my mood, the gnome said:

“A bad peace is better than a good war.”

“Maybe so,” I muttered and asked: “So why were you so tense at first?”

“Well, you know, we came with darksiders,” the gnome shrugged. “Who knows what kind of crazy stuff our queen might do? What if she saw us as a threat?”

“Even the children?”

“Well, why not?”

“And now you see that the risk is gone?”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Madi frowned. “I heard Gallia calling the war hopeless… Just like the others… Beyond that, we know there’s a schism forming in our ranks. Essentially, me and all these poor saps are going out of the frying pan into the fire. But alas, we simply don’t have any other option. We have nowhere else to go.”

“You want me to help you leave?” I asked.

“Where could we go?” Madi laughed sadly. “No! I will fight shoulder to shoulder with my brethren!”

I nodded and gave him a handful of spheres and potions.

“Here you go. You’ll need them soon.”

“Thank you, my friend!” the gnome smiled, and we hugged goodbye.

“Take care of yourself!” he shouted from the other side of the bridge and waved a hand. Many of the gnomes and elves I had rescued followed his example.

“Now that is going to depend,” I muttered and activated canopy of invisibility.

* * *

“What scheme have you cooked up now?” Lionheart was noticeably tense.

“It’s time,” I replied calmly, looking over my patron goddess’ altar yet again after we had essentially stolen it from her mother. Or well, I had stolen.

And that was the second significant nasty trick I had played on the ancient gods. First the necromancer god’s sacrificial altar. And now Nyx’s. I sometimes get a feeling deep down that almighty beings are watching me. It makes me feel like some little bug fooled into believing it’s something of greater importance. And the thing we were about to test was whether those feelings were accurate.

“Maybe there’s another way?” the spirit kept insisting. “There must be another way.”

“Perhaps there is, but I can’t see it,” I shrugged.

“You are after all aware of the risk you want to expose yourself… uh, or rather us to, right?”

“I really hope so.”

“Is my little mortal finally mature enough to take decisive action?”

That was Kera. She must have sensed me near her altar.

“Something like that,” I blurted back.

“I kept saying you’d need more power! And you never wanted to listen! Stubborn ass! But oh well, what matters is that you are willing to take the next step!”

“Eric!” Lionheart squeaked. “I beg you to think this through again… In the end, the gnome queen’s idea is not lacking common sense. I’ve been telling you for a long time that this is not our war. You are young and fabulously wealthy! You are a very powerful mage! We have every chance to live a long and more importantly safe life! Do you really not want to get married? Raise a family? Buy a house? With your riches, you could buy yourself a hundred houses in all different corners of the globe! Just think about it! What can you gain from this war? All we’ve been doing recently is fighting wars…”

I said nothing. These were not my emotions. The spirit appeared to have tired himself out. He was getting sick of worrying about my and subsequently his life. Ahem, I do not envy him. He got himself a pretty restive master.

“So then, you are ready!” Kera exclaimed jubilantly. “Only I cannot see a sacrifice! What were you going to use to entreat my power?! You can’t possibly have decided to give up one of your whipsnakes, right? Or did you go with the tomcat after all? Remember I told you he would make the ideal sacrifice? I can sense your bond. I have seen a lot in my day. A bond like that is the height of rarity. Any god would do a lot for a sacrifice like that!”

The bait hides the hook. She wanted Gorgie. Keep dreaming, brute.

“Forget about my pets,” I responded. “I thought you’d already realized that asking me to give them up is a pointless endeavor.”

“Well, well,” Kera purred mysteriously. “We shall return to this topic. Then what are you going to offer me?”

I took my hand out of my pocket and opened it to reveal another primordial heart perched upon it.

“Not enough!” Kera shot straight out, but I could tell by her voice she was just trying to ratchet up her price. “I am not happy!”

“Well, if you say so,” I shrugged and pretended to put the heart back into my pocket.

“Stop!” she exclaimed. “There will come a day when I will remind you of all this, insolent mortal!”

“Well, you taking it or no?” I asked, smiling insolently.

“I’ll take it!” Kera barked angrily, but in her voice beyond the anger there was also anticipation. “What do you want to ask of me, mortal?”

I set the heart on the altar and said calmly:

“I want to become your priest.”

Chapter 33

A FAMILIAR VOID CAME OVER ME, blocking the outside world. Kera had again deigned to interact with me in reality, so to speak.

Hm… Looks like our so-called collaboration had been good to her. In any case, she no longer looks like the half-starved phantom I met initially.

“Say what you just said again?” Kera asked ingratiatingly, practically looming over me. Her black-ruby eyes squinted suspiciously. If she wanted it, I’d have already been turned inside out. Under different circumstances, I might have admired her beauty if not for the nauseating smell of dead flesh wafting unmistakably off my patron goddess. I had to strain not to wince.

“I want to become your priest,” I repeated unflappably. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“What is your game, mortal?” she menaced with an elegant little finger. “Because I can see it now. You’ve hatched a plan in that little head of yours. You must have some nasty surprise in store for me. Admit it!”

The goddess stomped demandingly and folded her arms over her chest.

“Why straight to nastiness?” I asked in surprise. “Your unfounded suspicions are insulting, for the record.”

“Come now,” she shook her head and snapped scornfully. “You knock that off with me. You forget who you’re talking to? I can see straight through you, little wretch.”

“Well, if you don’t want it, then…”

“I do,” she cut me off. “But you… I’ve never noticed this level of energy before. What changed?”

“You mentioned power and might,” I shrugged. “I need both. Isn’t that enough explanation?”

“If I didn’t know you, I’d make you a priest without a second thought. But now…”

Kera stared at me thoughtfully. She touched her chin with a thin pointer finger. I still couldn’t take my eyes away, even when her cute little fingernail started slowly transforming into a hideous claw. And a set of sharp fangs descended behind her plump crimson lips.

Then the transformation disappeared in a flash. The woman looking back at me was again a pretty redhead with a cute smile.

“Well, alright,” she said, clearly having made up her mind about something. “Let’s say I do make you my priest. You have to understand that your offering is not enough.”

“The Heart of a Primoridal is not enough for you?” I asked in surprise, my eyes open wide. “I’ve never seen a rarer artifact in this world! And you’ve already gotten one heart! Beyond that, all I’ve been doing recently is killing undead and intelligent creatures. So much energy. Just think! And all that’s not enough.”

“Okay, enough,” Kera cringed and waved me off like a bothersome fly. “You sound grumpy as an old grandpa. And yes… Commit this to memory! I am your goddess! I can never have enough! Especially now, when…”

Kera stumbled and didn’t finish. And too bad, my ears were just perking up.

“When what?” I made an attempt.

“None of your concern,” she snubbed. “You are a mortal, and goings on in the world of gods do not concern you.”

After that, hesitating a bit, she added:

“Still, that offering will not be enough.”

“On the contrary,” I snorted. “There’s more than enough here.”

“Are you talking back to me?” Kera whispered and her claw touched my neck ever so slightly.

She did it so quickly I didn’t even have time to blink. Straining to keep up my calm demeanor, I responded unflappably:

“I’ll tell you how it is. You are getting more than an offering. And you know that perfectly well.”

“Okay then, enlighten me,” Kera snorted and continued tracing a line on my throat with her claw. One false move and it’s over, I’m a dead man. Even all my shields together would hardly help. I mean, she is a goddess.

“You will have a priest,” I said. “Isn’t that what you wanted? Furthermore, I will not be any old priest. I will be the first priest of the great goddess Kera in the history of this world. It seems like you don’t even suspect what level you’d be climbing to. You’ve been wandering from world to world in search of someone like me your whole long life. And now what? Fate has smiled upon you. Here I am. And you’re trying to push up your price? Unwise. You’ve already duped me once. I’m not wading into those waters again.”

“The Heart of a Primordial is not enough,” Kera came stubbornly though honestly no longer so maleficent.

“You know something,” I snorted, stashing the artifact in my pocket. “People have been telling me to drop all this and just go live a normal life.”

“What does that mean?” she asked, surprised at the twist.

“Well, look,” I started counting on my fingers. “I’m pretty well off. And that’s being modest. I could buy myself a big house… Or no. That’s not really enough… Better like this. I marry some nice little count’s daughter with a big fortune. Or just buy myself a barony or county. I could buy a title, too. Get myself some fancy horses. On the banks of a river or pond or, better yet, the ocean, I build myself a huge palace or grow a new Foreston. On the border of the county, I build a fortress and station a golem garrison. At that rate, my county would become the most prosperous and wealthy on its coast, maybe the whole world.”

“Pf, keep dreaming,” Kera rolled her eyes. “I would not leave you alone.”

“Who said I would keep your mark?” I snorted.

“Don’t you joke about that,” she frowned.

“Who’s joking…? Say I get rid of the mark. Make peace with the Great System. Get rid of the renegade label and go live a settled life.”

“Oh yeah?” Kera squinted. “What will Ironskin and his faithful hound the Lich think about your plans?”

“I’ll make an arrangement,” I waved it off. “I’ll say I no longer plan on helping the gnomes, or maybe even help them take Stenborg. Egbert is a politician. Not right away, but he will agree in the end.”

“You’re that confident you’d be safe?”

“Well, practice has shown that the root of all my problems is my hot temper, plus bad luck. I’m constantly finding myself at the center of the action. I constantly have to defend myself. Which is why I keep messing things up. I’ll retreat into the shadows. I’ll avoid conflict, everything will be fine.”

“They will not leave you alone,” Kera made another attempt.

“Then I go to another world.”

“You run away?” she chuckled.

“I run away,” I nodded. “I could easily run away. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Then, I could start a new life in a new world.”

If Lionheart could hear our conversation, I could only imagine his delight.

“Alright,” Kera twirled her thin little hand. “If everything is how you say, why did you ask me to make you a priest? It doesn’t fit with what you just said.”

“Quite simple,” I shrugged. “I stand to benefit a lot from becoming your priest. Just imagine me killing all my enemies and becoming the mightiest being in this world! A little county would be great of course, but the whole world would be even better!”

I even put on a ravening smile. Kera was hooked.

“I told you that a long time ago!” her eyes lit up. “And you turned your nose up!”

“You wanted to turn me into an obedient puppet,” I said. “A doll. A tame golem.”

“What do you think will happen now?” Kera was taken aback. “After becoming a priest, you will be fully at my command.”

“See?” I shook my head. “That’s why I always turned you down.”

“Grr,” she shook her head. “You have me all confused, stupid mortal. So, do you want to be my priest or not?”

“I do,” I smiled. “But on one condition.”

Kera stared at me for a few long seconds with her mouth agape and eyes bulging. She looked like a fish out of water.

“I see you’ve lost all fear, mangy cur!” she growled when she regained the ability to speak.

A wave of magic ran over my body. An invisible vice grip squeezed my heart. I tried to breathe, but just couldn’t. My lungs were on fire as if I’d inhaled a ball of flame.

Kera had also changed. The black-haired beauty was gone. And now staring back at me was an ugly beast somewhat reminiscent of a black fruit bat. The main difference was that her skin was completely coated in a revolting swampy muck. So that’s your true nature, Kera, Devourer of Corpses.

“You are now a hairsbreadth from your demise, puny mortal,” she said unexpectedly calmly. Honestly, her voice… I’m sure I’ll never forget that voice. I suddenly felt very cold and, why hide it, very afraid. The graveyard cold stung me to the quick.

I tried to respond, but all that came from my throat was a pathetic groan. The disgusting slime-covered monster roared out something, then her body started changing rapidly. An instant later, looking back at me was again the black-haired beauty with big eyes the color of a black ruby.

“Alright,” she said lazily. “So be it. I’ll hear you out. But if I don’t like what I hear, don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ll have to punish you. From this minute, weigh your every word carefully.”

The invisible vice released its grip and I collapsed to the ground. On all fours and bulging my eyes out, I tried to suck in as much air as I could to put out the fire in my lungs.

While I rasped and sputtered, I was thinking feverishly about how to structure the rest of our conversation. In theory, everything was going to plan. And the goddess’ reaction to my insolence was entirely expected. Essentially, I had provoked her intentionally to feel her out, so to speak. To see how far she might go. I was completely confident she would not kill me. Honestly though, I had in fact just been an inch from death. It didn’t look like Kera had decided to merely spook me. In short, I had overplayed my hand… I needed to rectify the situation immediately.

“Get on with it,” she hurried me along while looking casually at her nails. “You mentioned something about me standing to gain.”

After catching my breath and clearing my throat, I stood to my full height and said:

“Before I start to explain, I have to understand precisely what gods want out of mortals.”

Kera raised her eyes and snorted.

“I thought you were about to answer my questions, mortal.”

“Apologies, my liege,” I bowed my head submissively. “But without you answering that important question, I cannot give you a complete explanation.”

“Well, okay,” Kera nodded. Her voice warmed slightly. I had clearly chosen the right form of address when I called her my liege. “If you had been listening to me, you’d have figured it out long ago: the gods want worship and sacrifices from mortals. A lot of sacrifices!”

“And I assume mortals should place upon your altar that which is most important and dear to their heart?”

“That’s correct,” Kera responded. “That’s why your tomcat would make a very good sacrifice!”

Letting that go in one ear and out the other, I continued:

“Yes, but that creates a problem.”

“What might that be?” Kera asked, sincerely surprised.

“Please do not take this as an insult or insolence, my liege,” I bowed my head again.

“Spit it out,” Kera waved impatiently.

“The thing is that, as you know, us mortals are not huge fans of parting with things that we cherish. Especially without a concrete trade-off.”

“Yes, I have noticed that,” Kera snorted. “You’re all quite greedy.”

“And yet, there is an exception,” I responded. “Our world has many temples where mortals worship their gods and make sacrifices to them.”

“I am aware of that as well,” she replied sullenly. “What are you hinting at?”

“I’m getting there,” I replied amenably. “Who do you think deserves credit for the fact that some gods have fancy temples, always full of worshippers all over the world, while other gods are doomed to be forgotten?”

“The ones that got forgotten were not powerful enough,” Kera replied quickly, then unexpectedly admitted: “That’s why I never got anywhere. I have powerful enemies.”

“Odd,” I kneaded my chin. “For the last few months, I’ve been using your power to destroy whole armies. I could never bring myself to call you weak, my liege.”

“That’s different,” she frowned. But I noticed that the seeds of doubt I sowed had sprouted very quickly.

“Well, I think the credit for spreading the cult should go first and foremost to the priests.”

I noticed that Kera had puffed out her cheeks and wanted to object, but I quickly added:

“That is of course on the condition that the god or goddess has enough power.”

“Continue,” Kera allowed graciously.

“I would dare to suggest that all the priests you ever had were firmly under your thumb. To put it more simply, you used them as puppets.”

“Ah, so that’s where you’re going with this?” she chuckled. “In your opinion, priests need freedom? You believe I cannot handle it on my own?”

“Precisely,” I nodded and hurried to add: “You are a goddess, and they are mortals. It isn’t for you to understand our petty intrigues. You’re above that. You give your priest a mission – to provide you with sacrifices and an obedient flock. Let them handle the headache.”

“I like it. Are you trying to say you know how to provide me with both?”

“Of course?” I chuckled. “In fact, it would be quite simple.”

“Let’s hear it then,” Kera smiled. She was skeptical.

“Let’s say I become your priest,” I started. “My next move would be to eliminate all enemies, both mine and yours. In other words, my objective would be to become one of the mightiest mortals in this world.”

“I understand,” she nodded. “You could enslave your entire world that way.”

“Why?” I asked in surprise. “What kind of sacrifice do you desire most of all? Voluntary, or forced?”

“Both are fine,” Kera shrugged, but with a bit of thought, admitted: “Still, voluntary sacrifices are preferable. They give more power.”

It took me effort not to smile.

“Look at the bas-reliefs in this temple,” I said. “They depict mortals voluntarily sacrificing themselves and their children to the goddess. And note, it’s all voluntary! No one forced them. Imagine how much power you would get from a mass sacrifice like that!”

“And you mean to say that the priests should get the credit for that?” Kera asked incredulously.

“Of course, your mother was a crucial element, but the bulk of the work was done by the priests.”

“But how did they pull it off?” she was struck.

“Her priests are free to act as they see fit. And that means they want to live well. And with a patron goddess like her, one can live in luxury, and never know suffering. Now imagine one such priest shows up in the capital city of some big government and meets its ruler. There they demonstrate the power of their goddess and inform the king that they are not laying claim to his throne. In fact, on the contrary, the priest promises to further cement his rule. And as an example, the priest slays all the ruler’s most powerful enemies. And then, a little while later, a huge temple is erected in the very center of the capital city in your honor, using funds donated by your future flock.”

“Very good,” Kera rubbed her hands together. “I like it. Tell me more.”

“Mortals will be lining up for you. And they will bring their goddess their most prized possessions. And behind that will be a wise priest who will serve you of his own free will. With time, you will get more priests and more temples. Until one day your cult becomes the most significant in the world.”

“So, the condition you mentioned before is freedom?” Kera chuckled craftily.

“Yes,” I nodded. “No mental magic. Complete freedom of action, and I will make you the main goddess in this world. Just one thing…”

“What now?!” Kera exclaimed, annoyed.

“Don’t get me wrong,” I stroked my chin. “But if I am going to dedicate my entire life to serving you, I have to know your ultimate goal…”

“Ahh!” she snorted. “That’s what you’re talking about. You’re looking out for your own benefit.”

“Is that really such a bad thing?”

“It’s very predictable,” Kera responded. “What do you want, then?”

“Stick to the plan I just told you about. I have to get more powerful.”

“Well okay, if everything goes the way you said, I will make you more powerful. And if I see you performing your duties with particular zeal, you will be rewarded generously. And for starters…”

Kera considered it for a moment.

“For becoming my priest, you shall have the power of five mortals! How’s that for a reward?”

“I don’t totally understand…” I frowned.

“The maximum value of all your characteristics at every level will be increased five-fold. In other words, your ceiling for Strength will go up fifty points per level rather than ten.”

I gulped with a parched throat. That’s ten points higher than the whipsnakes! And thirty-five higher than Gorgie! Plus, the avatar and demonic amulet… Uh…

“Well, how does that sound?” she asked derisively. She was clearly satisfied with the effect she’d produced. “How do you like the reward?”

I rubbed my throat and, rasping, said back:

“It’s a lot more than I was expecting.”

“Then it’s agreed,” Kera declared and I was sent back to her altar. “Where’s that heart you wanted to sacrifice to me? So be it. I’ll take that. We can call it a down payment on your service, priest.”

I breathed a heavy sigh, stepped forward, took the primordial heart from my pocket and placed it on the sacrificial altar. Then, a moment later, a short text appeared before me where the Great System told me I had become a priest of the goddess Kera, who would be obliged to uphold our pact from then on.

Chapter 34

AS I WALKED AWAY, I was trying to keep my back upright. Meanwhile, a smile of unearthly delight danced on my lips as sparks of joy flickered in my eyes. I was trying to show with my entire appearance how sincerely elated I was with my liege!

One step… One more… And the portal arch closed behind me. I was back in the sanctuary. Kera was no longer so indignant about my visits to the secret Knights of the Rift location, which was closed off to her. Honestly though, I did have to spend a few minutes explaining in detail that I needed time to get ready before the decisive battle against my enemies. And I was essentially telling the truth. She bought it. And let me go.

As soon as the portal arch disappeared, my legs bowed, and I fell onto the grass. The false smile flew off my face. It’s over. I can relax.

Turning onto my back and staring woozily into the blue sky, I heard by heart pumping faintly in my chest. Like an orcish war drum preparing to play its clan’s warriors into their final battle.

My body slowly relaxed. But my fingers were still shivering. The tension was in no hurry to go away. I filled my lungs with air and breathed out loudly. Yikes! And I’d really been walking a tightrope…

“How did you pull it off?” Lionheart spoke up. “I believed your every word when I was listening. I got the sense you really were going to conquer the world for that batty old monster! Your emotions were not deceitful! And I should know!”

“It was simple,” I answered. “I had to believe everything I told her myself. Otherwise, she’d have sensed it. And if I was able to convince you, she must have believed it, too. Do you understand?”

“If only you knew how scared I was!” the spirit exclaimed in an unsteady voice. “If I didn’t know in advance that you were leading her on, I’d definitely have bought it. Your emotions… Heartbeat… Voice… You’ll make a great politician one day!”

I gave a wry smile.

“Just what I want. To lie professionally my whole life? No thanks… Not for me.”

“In one way or another, you were right in the end!” Lionheart said contentedly. If he had a body, he’d have been rubbing his hands together. “She even gave more than we were expecting! Looks like you really made an impression!”

“Have you already calculated how many resources you’ll need?”

“Yes,” the spirit responded in a no-nonsense manner. “We could use more esses and diamond tablets like usual. Particularly the latter, of course. Still, we can fill out the base using Silvers and Golds. We’ve got plenty of those. Basically, we can scrape together enough for eighty. We could get you higher with esses, but without tablets I don’t see a point. You understand.”

“Eighty…” I repeated thoughtfully. “To be frank, I think we can go higher.”

“Well, I had to consider your pets too, so…”

“Yeah, yeah. Of course. It’s just…”

“Listen,” the spirit started to reassure me. “At eighty, your Strength is going to be higher than your whipsnakes’ by a whole eight hundred points! And that’s not to mention Gorgie. You’ll be nearly four times stronger than him! I’m afraid to even imagine what you’ll turn into. Because you also have the amulet and avatar! Don’t forget – we will be able to bring all your spells to maximum.”

I nodded. He’s right.

“We don’t have much time. We should start slow. Edu, you here?”

“Yes, milord,” I heard the keeper of the sanctuary’s voice. The air flickered a few steps away from me and a familiar figure appeared. “Do you have any instructions for me?”

“Yes,” I answered. “I would like a big meal. And after dinner, I want to visit the baths.”

“Got it, milord,” Edu said with a bow. “Right away.”

I got up off the ground. I shook a bit of grass off my clothes and looked around with a sigh of relief. Whoever created this world, they certainly knew how to make it comfortable.

A few hours later, fed and happy, I got into a tub full of hot water. I got situated comfortably, set a potion on the stone wall and looked over at Gorgie.

“Brother, if I pass out, make sure I don’t drown.”

“Hrn,” Gorgie replied and posted up next to the wall.

“Don’t worry,” Lionheart said. “Everything will be fine.”

“You remember what I said to you?”

“Yes,” the spirit responded. “Even if you lose consciousness, keep slowly activating tablets and esses.”

“Correct,” I nodded. “Otherwise, the process will take too long.”

I had no doubts that Lionheart would be extremely cautious and do everything right.

“Well, what now?” I asked, more to myself. “Should we get started?”

I activated Muckwalker’s Regeneration and Gulper’s Lair, then mentally reached for a slot in my ephemeral backpack. A small fiery orange sphere the size of a chicken egg appeared in my hand.

While examining the artifact, I laughed.

“What?” the spirit reacted instantly.

“Well… As far as I can remember, my biggest dream has always been to level up. Before I got my first artifact of the ancients, I spent a few years confined to a bed like a living corpse. Then, when I was finally able to move, it was another disappointment. As it turned out, every person considered me a freak and kept me at arm’s length. I had no friends. Because being friends with me was equivalent to falling into an outhouse filled with crap. I felt like even I would have preferred falling into one.”

I went silent, thoughtfully leading a hand over the water’s surface. Little wakes traced back from my fingers.

“I dreamed of hitting level one so many times! And I was happy. Honestly though, that only lasted until I opened my eyes and realized I was back in the real world. If only you knew how much I loathed those times!”

I looked back at the sphere and snorted.

Sphere of Temporary Growth

— Type: Magical objects

— Rarity: Epic

— Effect:

— Increases level by 1

— Effect duration: 30 minutes

— Sphere disappears after use

“But now, I know that reaching level one will mean losing one of my biggest advantages. And now, for the first time, I don’t want to.”

“You can always change your mind,” the spirit insinuated.

I smiled wide. He’s incorrigible.

“No,” I responded, shaking my head. “A new stage of our life is beginning. Onward! Onward and upward!”

— Attention! Your level has been temporarily increased to 1.

— Remaining duration: 29:59 minutes.

— Attention! You have used experience essence (1)!

— Attention! Temporary growth effect suspended!

― Congratulations! You have reached level 1!

― You receive:

― Silver tablet (15)

The first ess was followed by another few thousand, sending more and more level-up notifications flickering before my eyes. Before my conscious mind slipped into blackness, I considered with a bitter smile that I was essentially being born again. Look, I even got my starting tablets. A whole fifteen! One more than my older brother Ivar! If that had happened right when I was born, my fate probably would have turned out differently. My father would not have had to work so hard to earn extra money for pricy artifacts. I would have been the most popular boy in school. I’d have lived in Orchus and wanted for nothing. But there was one big “but.” My blood… The blood of the ancients… We’d have never been left alone. So away with the sad thoughts! I’m going into my biggest battle ever!

* * *

“Rick, can you hear me?”

A dimly familiar voice. I had heard it before somewhere. It belongs to a close friend. Someone from my inner circle.

“I think he can hear you. And he’s doing just fine.”

Another voice. Also familiar. Also a friend.

“Oh, I’m sure!” the first exclaimed. I could hear notes of pride in his voice. “Just look at him!”

“Aha,” the second came. “In just a couple days, this young man has become totally unrecognizable.”

Are they talking about me? A moment later, I remembered who the voices belonged to. At first, my memory came back in spurts, but a little while later, the information started flowing in steadily. All my memories came back.

Wait. So then why am I not in water? I seemed to remember starting the assimilation process in a warm bath. I was now clearly lying on a dry bedsheet.

I slowly opened an eye and looked around. I get it. I’d been brought to my room. Magic lamps were glowing all around. It was nighttime.

“Rick, how are you feeling?” the first speaker asked.

It was Lionheart. Honestly though, the timbre of his voice had changed somewhat. Become more confident or something.

“I’m glad it all worked, milord!”

Now that was Edu. His voice hadn’t changed in the slightest.

“Hrn!”

The doors blasted open, and a scaled body came flying into the room. Gorgie! Hm, was it just me or was he moving slower than usual?

His huge toothy maw loomed over me. And a moment later, my face was subjected to a thorough licking. Smiling, I squinted and grabbed the harn by the neck. And much to my surprise, I was able to hold back his onslaught!

“Hrn?” Gorgie asked in surprise.

“What did you think would happen?” the spirit chuckled. “He’s three times stronger than you now! And you’re just a little kitten to him. By the way, Eric, be careful. You’re much stronger now. If you’re not careful, you could cripple your little kitten.”

I would swear Gorgie’s snout stretched out just like a human’s. And his lower jaw, packed full of big sharp teeth, hung down in astonishment.

“How’d it all go?” I asked after clearing my throat.

“See for yourself,” Lionheart suggested and added with a bit of embarrassment: “Just don’t be too surprised.”

I opened my character sheet and ran down the main figures.

― Level: 65

― Mind: 359

― Strength: 3381.6

― Agility: 3339.4

― Endurance: 3250

― Health: 3250

― Intellect: 3280

― Wisdom: 1500

― Will: 628

― Regeneration: 500

― Speed: 560

― Accuracy: 540

― Life supply: 70,000

― Energy supply: 70,000

― Mana supply: 250,000

― Dark supply: 150,000

Once finished reading, I raised my head. Correctly interpreting the look on my face, the spirit started to explain.

“I know you were expecting different results. As was I, for the record. But as you can see, the Great System managed to surprise us.”

“But you said there were enough resources to hit level eighty,” I stated.

“Yes, I did,” the spirit didn’t wheedle. “But we overlooked one very important detail.”

“What detail?”

“The maximum characteristic value. And I’m not talking about the ceiling at every level. I’m talking the overall maximum.”

“So, you’re telling me my maximum level is sixty-five?” I asked, perplexed.

“No,” Lionheart objected. “Not overall level. That we could still bring up a bit. But your characteristic levels can no longer be improved with tablets after that. It will take different artifacts. Rings, bracelets, armor and stuff like that. There might be a chance to go beyond that using iridescents. But with your current level, the chance of getting such a great reward is vanishingly small. You could only get that now for fighting some monster with a very high level. By the way, that’s why I didn’t use the rest of the esses. At level sixty-five, loot chances are better than at eighty. Agreed?”

I nodded mechanically.

“And overall, if you want to know,” the spirit continued. “By my calculations, your current parameters, had you levelled like a normal person, correspond to approximately level three hundred fifty. All your spells are maxed out. Plus, I worked a bit of magic with the crystals. Your Mind and Will gave me a couple techniques. It would take a long time to explain… Basically, I was able to join together all your crystals into higher capacity shapes which, as you see, increased the size of all your supplies by quite a lot. Beyond that, while you were asleep, I significantly improved your army of golems. I was able to turn barely crawling two-legged dolls into true killing machines. I had to disembowel a couple stone snakes, but it was worth it. By the way, other than the thousand golems, you still have five stone snakes. I was able to restore another two.”

The spirit kept spouting things off, but I wasn’t listening. I closed my eyes and listened to my feelings. Something had changed. It was as if I had become a different person. I was practically the same Eric Bergman, but… I didn’t even know what’s the matter.

My body was different. I was aware it was mine, but at the same time, the unusual sense of lightness made me aware of how drastic the changes had been. I was stronger. A lot stronger. Now even Gorgie was sniffing me incredulously. My senses had grown sharper as well. The smells, sounds, magic vision… How had I lived without this before?

“By the way,” Lionheart cut into my thoughts. “You’d be well served to take another dig through the Knights of the Rift treasure chamber. There’s some worthwhile stuff for your level now.”

“Are the golems ready?” I asked.

“We could send them into battle at a moment’s notice,” the spirit responded enthusiastically.

I chuckled.

“Looks like you’ve gotten bolder.”

“I was never a coward before,” the spirit came indignantly.

“Uh huh,” I nodded. “Easy for you to say.”

“Most likely, you just can’t see the difference between cautiousness and cowardice,” he announced importantly.

“Maybe so,” I shrugged my shoulders, continuing to smile. “What changed?”

“Not what, but who!” Lionheart corrected me insistently. “You’ve changed! Now a foe would really have to struggle to kill you. And that gives me confidence! Now do you see the difference?”

“Ah, so that’s it!” I mocked his tone.

“Of course!” the spirit said, not even considering getting embarrassed. “By the way, now that it’s come to that, I am still opposed to you taking part in this war. Look at yourself in a mirror. Now any woman would be happy to bind her fate with a man as handsome as you. And rich, to boot! An almighty mage! Heck, any count or even duke would gladly give up their daughter’s hand in marriage to you. What am I even saying? You have every chance of marrying into the royal family! Just imagine the prospects that could open up.”

“Looks like I got ahead of myself,” I snorted. “You haven’t changed one bit. Edu!”

“Yes, milord!” the gatekeeper spirit appeared in the middle of the room.

“I’m hungry.”

“Got it, milord,” Edu said with a slight bow. “Would you like your dinner brought here, or shall I set the dining table?”

“Breakfast,” I said, drawing the word out with satisfaction. “I want to eat breakfast in the gazebo by the pond.”

“Got it,” Edu said with a wide smile, disappearing into thin air with a bow.

And a moment later, the darkness of the night gave way and cheery little sunbeams came peeking through my window.

* * *

I slightly drew the edge of the heavy gold-monogrammed hotel curtain and looked cautiously out the window.

Before that, I spent a long time thinking where I should set the portal to. I had visited many parts of Stenborg, but most of them were public. The Upper Royal Palace was also out. Before getting into the fight, I had to be able to take a proper look around.

And then I recalled my room in the downtown hotel. Why not? All I could do was hope the hotel had survived the urban warfare. When the familiar interior appeared in the portal arch, I gave a satisfied grin. The armchair, bed, table, dressers – all the furniture was right where it had been on my last visit. The war had not upset the quiet comfort of this place. The only evidence that the hotel owners had concerns other than cleaning was the thin layer of dust coating every surface.

“What’s your report?” I asked quietly, staring out at the half-demolished capital-city buildings.

We’d been there two days already and I should note that Stenborg was pretty quiet. The small patrols of Fradian spearmen marching down the narrow city alleys were a rare sight. As an aside, there were also necromorphs and wraiths in the patrols. Meaning the humans were aware they were in league with the necromancers. And logically, that meant there could be no talk of leniency on my part.

“The Steel King and Alrak are underground,” the spirit reported. “A horde of necromorphs is storming the final gnomish barricade. I wasn’t able to make it very far in. The Lich has a very powerful aura.”

“Good thinking,” I nodded. “He may have a very sensitive alarm system. They have no reason to know we’ve arrived just yet. What are their backlines like?”

“They have two giants covering their backlines. Both primordial. And there are four thousand Fradian spearmen with them. However, the humans are not ready for a fight.”

I smiled raveningly.

“Well alright then. Let’s make them regret ever showing their faces in this city.”

Chapter 35

IN ONE SUDDEN MOVEMENT, I threw open the heavy curtains, sending up a whirlwind of dust, then opened the windows wide and walked out onto the balcony. I leaned my elbows on the balustrade railing and took a deep satisfying breath of the icy air, then slowly looked around.

From up on the top floor of the hotel, the highest point in Stenborg, I could see the whole city. The once lavish and respectable downtown had turned to ruins. Still, I must give the gnomes their due. A lot of the buildings, much like the hotel, had withstood even the most powerful spells.

Combat operations had now long since moved underground, but a few columns of black smoke were still visible on the surface. Lionheart explained to me that it was from stone oak crafts decaying: window frames, doors, furniture. I could tell right away where the richest locals lived. That was not a wood for the poor.

Easily hopping up onto the banister, I pushed off and made a long jump onto the roof of a neighboring building. I had to get used to my new capabilities. My new body, bound with a taut suit of musculature, felt like it could move all on its own. I just had to think about doing something and my body carried out the mental order instantly.

My vision had gotten better, as had my senses of smell and hearing. And thanks to that, my magic senses had also risen to another level of perception. I started understanding the world and its keeper much better. The Great System no longer seemed like a living being in control of our lives. That wasn’t it at all… It existed both within us and apart from us at the same time, subject to a set of laws only it was aware of. And all the while, it was dispassionately upholding those laws.

The roof gaped with a few large holes and up from them wafted a smell of scorched dead flesh. Somewhere in the bowels of this stone box, its former owners had met their end.

Another few long leaps and I was on the edge of the block. I chose the lookout platform of a half-demolished sentry tower for an observation post. It provided me an excellent view of the royal palace and the temporary Fradian camp around it.

The spirit was right. Egbert the Seventh’s Steel Legion was already practically celebrating the victory. No one was even talking about any military preparations anymore. The travelling tents, which had already amassed piles of various junk outside their walls, clearly having been plundered from the city, were not in great shape. Most of the people were wandering around town with no armor or weapons. I could hear cheery music, songs, and shrieks of delight from the field whores. I think it was the first time I really regretted improving my sense of smell. The wind blew into my face, bringing along the terrible stench given off by thousands of unwashed bodies.

Watching the loitering Fradians, I smirked.

“What has you so happy?” Lionheart asked, having correctly assessed my mood.

“Well, an interesting little idea just occurred to me.”

“Care to share it?”

“Tell me, what do you see?” I answered with a question, nodding toward the camp.

“Any other time, I might have thought it was some clever plan to lure their enemies into a trap,” Lionheart answered.

“Would you fall for such an obvious setup?” I chuckled.

“Well,” the spirit hesitated. “It was just the first thing that came to mind when I went to scout. To say that the Steel King’s commanders were preparing a trap.”

“But when you got to the camp, you realized there was no trap?” I nodded, smiling. “Everything you saw was genuine. Nobody was preparing for anything. All the people were doing was wolfing down food, drinking to excess, plundering the city and making a big mess everywhere.”

“Yeah…”

“Ahem,” I shook my head. “Looks like the gnomes are in even direr straits than I thought. If even the Steel Legion, famed for its discipline, has turned into a band of common marauders.”

“I wonder what their king thinks about that.”

“You think he knows what’s happening up here?” I asked.

“Then how do you explain all the chaos?”

“Quite simple,” I shrugged. “He left his most loyal men behind and let them loot the upper city. He needs them in a good mood to crowd out the rumors about the necromancers and undead army currently storming the underground palace. And that’s more tangential proof of what Shitang said about Egbert. The Steel King does not intend to turn our world into a kingdom of the dead. After Alrak completes his mission, Egbert will call him back again, put him to sleep… Or whatever he does…”

“And that’s your big idea?” the spirit asked.

“Something like that,” I chuckled and nodded toward the camp. “By the way, here’s another one for you. We’re witnessing the birth of a new Fradian elite. It could very well be that the legionary who just pulled his pants down over there to take a dump in the ruins is a future count or duke. And that guy warbling a dirty song out of tune? He could be a baron someday. As soon as Egbert is finished with the gnomes and activates the crown, the political world will change drastically. And that will primarily apply to Fradian nobles. I can guarantee you that. Egbert, regardless of all his power, cannot do it alone. And why would he? After all, he could share his fleeting power with loyalists who fought this whole war at his side. He will give them land and money. And when they get out of this crap, they’ll be ready to move heaven and earth for their king. And it won’t stop at Fradia. Other countries will meet the same fate. Egbert the Seventh will be a true emperor, not some puppet like the ones before him.”

“Believable.”

“Of course, that’s exactly what I would do if I were him.”

The spirit wanted to say more, but somewhere off to the right, deep within the demolished city, a telltale magic upwelling came to our attention. Someone had opened a portal.

“I recognize this magic design,” the spirit said.

I smiled and nodded.

“Looks like my neighbor decided to have some fun behind the enemy’s backlines. So, we’ll have an audience. Ready?”

“On your command,” the spirit replied.

“Then let’s get started.”

Not coming down from the tower, I activated a portal at its foot, which Lionheart slipped straight into. Then, a few moments later, the first golems started emerging from the portal arch onto the broad square.

Our actions did not go unnoticed. Toggy Yojelle and a few of his troops, thinking they were being stealthy, hid among the ruins of a large stone building.

The looks of astonishment on their little faces when they saw my bronze legionaries getting into formation on the square were a sight to behold. There was nothing left of the gnomish machines’ original shapes. The spirit had a vivid imagination. Still, while transforming the bronze giants, his top priority was to make them into the most efficient killing machines possible.

The upgraded legionaries now looked something like the arachnid golem, which Lionheart had used to pull me out of occupied Foreston. Honestly though, these ones were three times bigger and had long, sharp blades at the tips of their more numerous limbs. Beyond the lethal sword-arms, the golems had sprouted tough shells reminiscent of insect chitin. The capacity of their energy supplies had practically quadrupled. Now, the super machines could function much longer than the base models. Essentially, Lionheart had only kept the basic system created by the ancient craftsmen. He had done the same with the stone snakes. The first such giant had just slithered out of the portal arch. Toggy Yojelle and his companions, totally forgetting about camouflage, walked up closer and, craning their necks as much as possible, stared at the grand spectacles. The gnomes were just beneath me when I asked loudly:

“Neighbor, how do you like my army?”

Toggy’s red head of hair shuddered. The gnome turned his head, then finally thought to look up.

“So, you came!” he said after a moment of puzzlement, sounding both affirmative and inquisitive. Meanwhile, a satisfied smile blossomed on his bearded countenance.

“Unlike some, I keep my word!” I couldn’t resist casting a stone at Gallia’s fence. “By the way, come on up. The view’s better up here.”

Diplomatically ignoring the jab at his queen, Toggy replied while continuing to smile:

“Thank you, neighbor! But we can see just fine from here!”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“As you like. And yes… Another thing – try not to get in my way. And explain that to your friends. When everything is over, I will not have enough time to save your lives.”

“We’ll take it into consideration, sir magister,” Toggy Yojelle replied with a deep bow. Still, out of the corner of my eye, I could see that one of his buddies was practically bursting to say something to me. Seemingly, he was the same mage Lionheart pinched the golems from.

The troublemaker was rounded straight up by a couple soldiers standing next to him. With my enhanced hearing, it was no problem to make out the hot-headed gnome’s grumbling. He tried explaining to the others that this was their land, and no human boy was going to call the shots. And for that, he got a dirty rag stuffed into his mouth.

Meanwhile, our foes in the camp spotted us. The legionaries on watch raised the alarm. A ram’s horn trumpet blasted out over the city. The Steel Legion stirred like the body of a fallen water buffalo covered in hungry ants.

I smiled. Everything was going to plan. I could have attacked quietly and killed all of them in one fell swoop, but that was not my only aim. I was also trying to distract the Steel King and Alrak from the gnomes. To give Gallia and Gramner a breather from defending the ancient supply and pull our foes two different directions. Split their forces. And if we got lucky, they would come up to the surface to punish the insolent kid. Then Gallia would have even more time.

Beyond that, I did not want to waste energy on powerful spells. Let the golems deal with the Fradians. We had invested too many resources into them to just let them sit on the sidelines. It would also be a chance to test them in battle. And I have to conserve energy. My intuition is telling me that very soon, I might need all my reserves. Up against opponents like Egbert and Alrak, the outcome of a fight could always hinge on the tiniest little droplet of mana.

Waiting for all the golems to get out of the portal, I deactivated the arch and said:

“Begin.”

“Yes, master,” Lionheart replied and the first row of bronze giants touched off at the exact same time. Then, a moment later, my whole legion went into motion and rolled toward the camp in a solid wave.

The Fradian commanders somehow found a way to put up one shield wall. Honestly though, it was middling and delicate. Most of the people were unable to get properly dressed, much less suit up into full armor.

“I still don’t get it,” Lionheart muttered, watching the bronze wave rolling implacably toward the delicate Fradian defensive wall. “Couldn’t they just have waited until the battle was over down below?”

“Humans are not the same as golems or wraiths,” I replied. “They get tired. And morale starts to suffer. They’ve already been fighting the gnomes for a very long time. And they, you see, are fighting like lions for every inch of their territory. Egbert thought the two primordial titans and a few hundred necromorphs would be enough to cover his backlines. And the weak humans could just be left up here to loot. It was in hopes of avoiding mass desertion, or a potential uprising, which might take all of Fradia, then the entire Empire down with it. Remember, in history books, protracted wars always end just like that. Plus, Shitang will probably take the opportunity and start muddying the waters. Egbert wants to return home a conquering hero, not a butcher and suppressor of popular movements. With all his might, he could of course defeat every last person in the Empire, but that would require turning half the continent to ruins. And that would be bad. He already considers himself emperor. Ruler. And only a bad ruler would practically tear his own house down to get rid of a wasp’s nest, rather than removing it with care. These legionaries could end up being either a wasp’s nest, or reliable support for his rule.”

“Well, could have been,” the spirit corrected me.

We just so happened to hear the first battle sounds right then. The wave of golems had finally washed over the fluid Fradian formation.

And the impact was terrible. The first three rows of humans just ceased to exist. And that was all their commanders were able to accomplish. The gnomes below shouted in delight and ululated. Some of the bearded pipsqueaks even broke out into jigs.

Meanwhile, after the golems smashed through the first barricade, they sauntered into the camp, sowing death and terror as they went. Compared with the lightning-fast machines, the humans seemed to move slowly and clumsily. Honestly though, there were some islands of resistance. Most of them were haphazardly organized high-level fighters and mages. And those little groups dealt us our first losses.

“One hundred thirty-seven golems are now offline,” the spirit reported. “Overall energy expenditure – seventeen percent.”

“Enemy losses?”

“Almost two thousand, and constantly rising,” the spirit said.

“Very good!” Kera purred into my ear. “Good priest!”

It took me effort not to wince. I even had to put on a fake smile. Pretending to be happy to hear her praise. After my change in status, it was easier for me to sense my patron goddess. The bond between us had grown stronger. And all thanks to the dark energy she was getting for every kill scored by me, my pets, or the golems.

Now she was getting a ton more energy. Whereas before it was a trickle, now energy was flooding into my goddess in a full-on torrent. Kera was gaining power very quickly. And as her priest, I had new capabilities. For instance, I could bring in new adepts for a reward. And if those adepts started making sacrifices, little crumbs of divine energy would be sent up the chain to me.

I also got control over the entire temple which, beyond being a place of worship, was also a practically impregnable fortress with a supply linked directly to the goddess. I would have to resettle the kobolds ASAP before Kera ordered me to sacrifice them. And I wouldn’t put it past her.

And most importantly now, as her supreme priest, I could officially appeal to my goddess for aid. Officially meaning without breaking the fundamental rules of creation, or pacts between the gods and other higher beings. Once appealed to, Kera could help me three times. And that was a serious ace in the hole.

“It’s over,” Lionheart distracted me from my thoughts.

I took a look. He was referring to the people who were able to haphazardly organize themselves in the first minutes of the attack. They didn’t hold out long. The golems smashed through that barrier, too. Now they were racing around the camp wiping out panicked people left and right.

In passing, I spotted one of the golems tearing a crimson standard in two and snorted.

“What’s so funny?” the spirit asked.

“We are witnessing a historic event,” I replied. “The famed Steel Legion has just ceased to exist. In my childhood, I heard a ton of old wives’ tales from old man Kriep about the great deeds of these truly legendary warriors. I used to dream of one day being lucky and strong enough that they’d have no choice but to let me join the steel ranks. Ah, if someone had told me back then how the legion would meet its end, I never would have believed them.”

I was going to add that I wasn’t the least bit sorry for what I’d done, but before I could speak, I heard a hateful roar coming from the main gates to the underground city.

“Sounds like some more serious rivals are about to pay us a visit,” I chuckled, watching two giant figures rushing toward the camp. “The titan brothers Im and Om.”

I activated the summoning amulets, then turned to the freshly appeared whipsnakes on the square, nodding toward the two daeva of corruption:

“Why don’t you go say hello to our old friends?!”

In response, came loud ferocious hissing from two furious giant snakes.

Chapter 36

THE DAEVA OF CORRUPTION roared back loudly, waving their poleaxes. The giant brothers had accepted the challenge. While they rushed toward my rampaging golems, Lionheart gave a report.

“A total of two hundred twenty-three golems are now offline,” he rattled off. “I can restore forty-seven right now, another one hundred thirty-three could be ready by tomorrow morning. The rest will take a couple days.”

“Are the stone snakes ready?” I asked, watching my legion finish off the Fradians and reform into neat columns.

“Yes,” Lionheart responded. “But… I don’t think they could do significant damage to the giants. Those two primordials are over level three hundred fifty. Look at their poleaxes. They have to be divine artifacts. Yes, you are stronger, but they would pulp the golems into jelly. Aren’t you going to send the whipsnakes after them?”

“Who do you take me for?” I chuckled. “I’ll handle those goons myself. My pets and golems will be making sure the wraiths don’t distract me from the two daeva.”

“What wraiths?” the spirit started.

I chuckled. Lionheart had been so busy with the golems he never saw the undead arriving. Honestly though, I have to give him his due. The wraiths were still underground. That was why my spirit helper hadn’t noticed them. But I can smell death magic from a mile away.

“Those ones,” I nodded at the gates leading to the underground city.

Just then, the first undead started shambling out of the huge opening, which looked like the pocked maw of a gigantic monster. With every second, there were more and more of them. From above, it looked like a burst sewer main. A stream of filth finding a hole to exit and all blasting out in a huge wave, flooding everything around.

“I see the necromancers wasted no time,” I winced.

“I have counted over seven thousand creatures,” Lionheart said. “And they just keep coming.” As an aside, that made it easier to understand why the king wasn’t worried about discipline in the human camp.

I nodded and walked over to the edge of the viewing platform.

“Hey, neighbor!” I shouted down at the suddenly silent gnomes’ hiding spot.

Toggy and the rest immediately looked up.

“Let me remind you of something!” I said with a grin while looking into the eyes of the troublemaker gnome. “Don’t get in my way! If any of you gets a crazy notion to come join the fray, bear one thing in mind – I will not have time to save your asses!”

Without waiting for a response, I pushed sharply off the edge of the stone wall of the viewing platform and made a long jump onto the roof of a nearby half-demolished building. The first jump was followed by a second, then a third, fourth, fifth – and there I froze on the edge of a stone wall, the only standing part of the once majestic city hall.

The daeva and undead were already just a hundred paces from the first columns of my bronze legionaries when I commanded Coal to unleash a wave of fire on them.

Curving smoothly around the neat rows of golems and getting in front of the formation, the whipsnake uncoiled, then darted his tail forward with a fearsome hiss. Coal, like my other pets, was now at level ninety. Their parameters had gone up significantly, but still not enough to stand up against the daeva of corruption on their own. But thinning the ranks of the undead was all I needed them to do.

The high wall of liquid flame summoned by the anthracite whipsnake quickly picked up speed, slithering forward and swallowing up everything in its path, alive or not.

A few long moments later, the wall of fire reached the horde of undead, which had burst out in front, then ran into the daeva brothers, who were standing still.

A bunch of victory and loot notifications flickered in front of me. I should note that the loot was much less abundant now but, to my surprise, it wasn’t all that bad either. In one way or another, most of the undead that had just burnt up were much higher level than me, some even twice as much.

The titan brothers standing shoulder to shoulder and brandishing their poleaxes took no damage as expected. The opaque domes of magic defense they put up worked properly.

Not letting them get their bearings, Sparky joined the game on my command. A hurricane of lightning came crashing down on the horde of undead, which had already been badly injured in the wave of fire. Meanwhile, Coal kept dumping fire balls onto the daevas’ magic shields.

The stream of loot and victory notifications came gushing in with redoubled force. The wraiths and necromorphs were taking terrible losses. But still, they just kept doggedly shambling forward. The distance between them and my golems was gradually coming down.

“Begin,” I gave a command to Lionheart.

“Yes, master,” the spirit replied, and the golems started moving.

A few heartbeats later the two essentially nonliving waves met head on. The wraiths’ onslaught was so intense that the golem formation sagged noticeably in a few places, and the first column of bronze legionaries completely ceased to exist.

But while “dying,” my legionaries were able to take a few undead down with them. Their sword hands flickered at incredible speed, making minced meat out of the necromorphs’ bodies.

Very quickly, the situation stabilized. The golem formation squared back off and even started slightly advancing. And at that very moment, I got a response from the daeva brothers.

The titans roared out loudly and threw up their poleaxes, sending balls of dark swampy magic crashing down on the golems’ ranks from out of nowhere. The corruption magic started eating through the legionaries’ bodies with loud hissing. Coal and Sparky both got hit, too. Honestly though, all the damage was absorbed by their defenses, which took a significant hit.

The daeva were not going to stop, though. They were already getting ready to play another nasty trick, hooking their poleax blades together and starting to cast a devastating looking spell.

Quickly calling the whipsnakes back, I commanded the spirit to move on to the next stage. And Lionheart did just that. If our army were made up of humans or some other intelligent creature instead of golems, this trick would have been nearly impossible. Only golems could take orders and execute them with such immaculate precision.

In perfect timing, the one golem formation suddenly split into two. The two waves of legionaries, obeying the will of my spirit helper, rushed in different directions, leaving behind the maimed bodies of comrades and foes alike. And just then, right where my legion had been, a tower of earth shot up to reveal a sharp set of stone spikes. Looking like pieces of brown ice during a terrible ice flood, they tore through the stone flesh of the once perfectly smooth causeway.

A ravening smirk appeared on my face. The daevas had taken too long with the spell and missed. In fact, they were also somehow able to destroy a portion of their undead warband. In an instant, the summoned earth elemental stopped obeying anyone. It didn’t care who had summoned it. It swallowed up anyone that happened to be in its path. The titan brothers’ joint roar of disappointment sounded like heavenly music to my ears. And a moment later, stone snakes came crashing down on the two daeva from several directions. The five guardians of the border of the Abyss, created originally by the Lord of the Deep and brought back by Lionheart, were eager to get to work. At a certain point, I even thought I would not have to intervene. The daeva, waving their poleaxes quite half-heartedly were gradually retreating back toward the gates leading underground. Based on the dim glow, their magic shields were about to give out. The last spell had clearly cost the primordials a huge amount of mana.

While the daeva fought off the giant stone snakes with varying success, my golems, now split into two regiments, continued smashing the undead.

As assumed, the gnomes just couldn’t sit this one out, either. Out of the ruins to my right, a few spells went rushing at the undead. They didn’t deal particularly significant damage, but now Toggy and his fighters could boldly claim they had taken part in the slaughter. I wouldn’t be surprised if, with time, pipsqueak minstrels would frame this as Toggy Yojelle’s victory, rather than ascribing it to some underaged upstart. But that was only if these simpletons could survive. Because the daeva were not going to give up so easily. Or perhaps it would be better to say that things had just begun.

“The primordials’ magic shields are down,” Lionheart quickly told me. “Hurry! Before they destroy the guardians.”

I nodded and activated avatar. Drawing my blades, which were instantly blanketed in dark flame, I pushed off from the wall and went flying down. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Toggy watching me. I saw flickers of fear, disbelief and admiration in his eyes.

Coming down onto the spell-warped causeway for a soft landing, I raced forward straight through the thick of the fighting. As I ran, I idly swatted away the clumsy necromorphs and wraiths. The brutes just died instantly while I kept running forward, leaving behind a perfectly straight crosscut of bodies.

I finally reached the two daeva. When I jumped out of the thick of the battle, one of the brothers was already on the ground. A whole three of the stone snakes were wrapped around his body and it looked like I was just about to hear his bones crunch.

The second titan meanwhile, faced with one less opponent and paying no attention whatever to the snakes biting into his right side and neck made a wide swing and brought his poleaxe down onto the head of one of the guardians constricting his brother.

Before my very eyes, the flat head of the stone snake blasted to smithereens with a loud crack.

“Ah,” Lionheart sighed. “We’re too late. I won’t be able to repair it now. The command node is in the head.”

The daeva clearly knew where to aim. I roared and lunged forward. I managed to catch the titan just as he had raised his poleax over his head and was about to bring it down on the head of another snake.

My dark-flame-enshrouded blade, which had cut through the bodies of the undead with such ease, I plunged full force into the daeva’s unguarded side. At first, I felt resistance. As if the tip of the sword had stuck into a hard chunk of oak. But with the colossal force of my Strength, multiplied several times by the avatar, the blade easily sunk into his body up to the hilt. Like a white-hot pin through butter.

The daeva gasped loudly and his whole body shuddered. Then the ruins of the city echoed with his plaintive roar of pain. The giant quickly turned, meanwhile trying to swat away his new rival with the poleaxe.

And that was the wrong move. With a sudden burst, the sharp edge of my sword, cutting through muscle, mangling innards and slicing through the daeva’s thick skin like paper, came tearing out. Ruddy blood came spurting from the terrible wound instantly. With a dull roar and, paying no attention to the hole in his side, or the snakes wrapping tightly around his body, the titan tried to catch me with a backward swing of the poleax.

That was surprisingly fast. The old me would have definitely fallen to that blow, but that nulled boy was no more. Now, the primordial was up against a deadly predator, who was much stronger than his prey.

Easily ducking beneath the poleaxe’s wide blade, which wafted with an unmistakable air of unusual magic, I jumped high and plunged my blade into my enemy’s bulging neck. And that time, I felt no resistance. I had clearly taken out the last of the daeva’s defenses with my first blow.

A short swing and the sacrificial knife pierced the giant’s temple. I was pouring generous helpings of Kera’s dark energy into every blow. And now a ball of darkness tore itself from the tip of the fearsome blade before turning the primordial’s brain into porridge.

“Yes!” my patron goddess exclaimed in ecstasy. “That sacrifice made me very happy!”

I jumped silently away from the falling body of the now dead giant and landed a step away from his brother. And he had yet to escape the embraces of the stone snakes. I thought I even heard his bones crunch. In the end, these golems had been created by the Lord of the Deep to hold back otherworldly beasts.

We met eyes. He had witnessed his brother’s demise. So much hate in his eyes. And to what end? Now, the last daeva was being held back by four golems at once. There’s just no way to get out of such a tight grip. Even the enchanted poleax was no help.

“Remember me, ugly?” I barked. “I can see it in your eyes, you do! You came into my home and killed my friends. Today, you will die just like your brother.”

The daeva roared something back loudly, but I was no longer listening. The sacrificial knife easily stuck into his right eye socket and, a moment later, a ball of darkness had scrambled his brains as well.

Before my eyes, there came a notification saying I had gained two hearts and twenty drops of blood from the pair of primordials.

I could practically feel Kera’s jubilation in my bones. She by the way had also marked the occasion with gifts. She gave me a whole ten large dark crystals along with several tablets and esses. She could have also given more but clearly thought it would be enough. After all, I had also gained two divine artifacts beyond the personal rewards. Our guesses about the daeva brothers’ weapons proved true.

“These poleaxes once belonged to Kruum-Dor,” Kera enlightened me.

“And who might that be?” I asked, examining the wide blades permeated with unusual magic.

“Some minor deity,” Kera waved it off with contempt. “He never comes out of his swamps. Very greedy, by the way. I’m surprised he found it in him to give anything away. Honestly though, I doubt these two dolts got them from Kruum-Dor personally. Their level is a bit too low. Some ancestor of theirs must have made a name for themselves. Then they inherited them.”

All I could do was shake my head. I could only imagine the kind of ancestors these two must have had if Kera was calling them dolts. Still, to be fair, I should note that I took care of the two daeva fairly quickly. Much the same as Black Annis and Crook. I don’t think it’s all down to my increased power, either. Without Alrak’s support, these primordials just weren’t all that tough.

We finished off the undead fairly quickly. All told, the golems, stone snakes, and my pets took down nine thousand necromorphs and wraiths. And although I was no longer a zero, that still netted me a ton of esses and tablets. According to the spirit, we could now bring up the whipsnakes and Gorgie to level ninety-five.

We also took losses, though. One stone snake, whose head had been smashed by the daeva, and three hundred fifty golem legionaries. Beyond that, despite my warning, two gnomes also perished.

“That have to happen?” I asked Toggy, nodding at the bodies on makeshift stretchers the gnomes were hauling toward the ruins. The basement of some building there must have contained an entrance to my neighbor’s underground labyrinth.

“This is our land!” the mysteriously still alive, black-bearded troublemaker stepped out, arms held proudly akimbo.

“This wretch, okay,” I said, motioning toward the upstart with my chin. “I know what he’s all about. But this doesn’t much seem like the Toggy Yojelle I used to know.”

“It was their decision,” the redheaded gnome responded grimly, not looking away.

I am familiar with that kind of decision. They thought they could snatch up some esses and tablets in all the commotion. And based on the satisfied looks on their faces, some had succeeded. When else would they get a chance like this? It’s always nice to have others doing the dirty work. And even though almost all of them had been injured and two killed, they still looked happy.

“Alright,” I waved it off. “Not my problem. Better tell me what Gallia’s game is.”

The black-bearded gnome wanted to blurt something out, but I glared at him and, despite his obvious head wound, he realized he was risking his life.

Toggy didn’t like my look either. He even shivered.

“It’s a state secret,” he muttered.

“And that secret, is it perhaps connected with the Forge of the True Flame?” I applied slight pressure.

Toggy shuddered.

“You don’t have to answer,” I snorted. “I can see clearly as it is. Tell her everything you saw here. And tell her this: I will keep my word and stay here until all the necromancers are gone.”

Chapter 37

IT HAD BEEN FIVE DAYS since we fought the daeva. All that time, we were on the surface right near the entrance to the underground palace and, as planned, exterminating the undead that came out. They flocked toward us like moths to a flame only to be finally laid to rest by the bronze legion’s sharp blades. Sometimes, the whipsnakes also joined in when herds of necromorphs and wraiths were particularly numerous.

As an aside, beyond the undead we were used to seeing on the surface, we were also starting to see more dangerous specimens – higher undead. A few of them were over level two hundred. It’s scary to consider the depths the necromancers had to go to in order to lure such monsters.

Despite our opponents’ high levels, I never got to do any more fighting. My small but very lethal army could easily take care of the threats all on its own.

We were in no rush to go underground just yet though. On the surface, we had an advantage. We could easily hold back the flow of undead with practically no losses with a relatively small force. And Lionheart was somehow able to repair the golems incapacitated after every attack quite quickly.

But if we went down two or three levels, things might get tough. The creatures could end up pushing in on all sides, increasing our losses by a lot. In the end, to avoid losing my whole army, which had cost us a huge amount of valuable resources, I would have to waste energy, which I would need for the battle with Egbert and Alrak. Beyond that, we also had plenty to do here. The undead weren’t even considering letting up the pressure. The necromancers had put a good deal of effort into expanding their army recently. Our world would not be rid of this infestation any time soon. Because even if the puppet masters got killed, all the hordes of shambling corpses they made would still be wandering the continent in search of food.

Hm… But that’s jumping too far ahead. Alrak was still alive.

Nearer the middle of the next day, the stream of undead racing up from underground was slowly dwindling. Disregarding the small necromorph packs that sometimes spurted out of the hole, a temporary lull set in. Which Lionheart took advantage of instantly.

Using the golems that had not seen action to haul, he started transporting all the loot we’d earned into the sanctuary. Along with the bodies of the broken golems and the stone guardian whose head had been pulped by one of the daeva of corruption. All in all, not counting the four stone snakes, just over six hundred legionaries were still in formation. Another hundred fifty Lionheart promised to repair. In total, that gave us just under eight hundred troops. My spirit, for the record, told me he already knew how to improve the gnomish machines further, even though they had already been altered to the point of unrecognizability. He said the upgrades would bring up their effectiveness by a further ten percent, which was impossible not to be happy about. To do all that, Lionheart asked for a couple of hours. And I gave him that.

Over the last few days, one thing had happened other than the never-ending undead attacks. I sensed a familiar upwelling of magic emanating from somewhere among the ruins near the gates leading underground. Sato had dropped by for a visit. I was unable to actually spot the old man, because he very quickly warped back out. He must have noticed something going on up here from below. And so, he went out to scout.

This time, I didn’t try to catch him. Let him report to his master that his legion and the titan brothers had been wiped out. Maybe that would distract Egbert from the gnomes, and he would come up to teach a lesson to the “little wretch” on his own. But alas, time was passing, and no one seemed to be in any rush to come teach me anything. That could mean only one thing – the Steel King was nearing his goal.

I would see clear evidence of my theory very soon. Among the ruins, a portal again opened behind me. But it was gnomish.

At first, I thought Toggy Yojelle was sending me reinforcements, but I was mistaken. A whole delegation came walking my way, comprised of a dozen gray-bearded gnomes and several dozen troops stuffed into armor.

Initially, I tensed up, but when I saw Madi Belvokrut among them, I calmed down. Honestly though, I didn’t recognize him at first. My personal attorney now looked like a grizzled cutthroat draped head to toe in weapons and armor. Surprisingly, Madi was pretty nimble even with all the scrap metal on him. So, there’s more to Belvokrut than meets the eye. Before becoming a clerk and starting a practice of his own, he must have gotten up to some mischief as a youth. Hm… Not bad.

Seeing my smile, Madi didn’t get embarrassed, and even perked up slightly. I nodded in appreciation for his new look. Honestly though, when I finally caught a glimpse of the state of the gnomes’ armor and weapons, the smile crept off my face. They had clearly come fresh off the battlefield.

The troops guarding the elders, and I had no doubts they were elders, had not even been able to properly bandage their wounds. The gnomes were clearly in a hurry.

Madi took a look at one of the old men and dashed forward. Got it. My friend had taken it upon himself to play peace envoy.

“Rick,” he said faintly, panting when we were just a few steps apart. “I beg you, hear out these esteemed gnomes! If it weren’t of critical importance to our entire people… I would…”

“Madi, my friend,” I waved him off and gave a big smile. “Don’t worry. If you’re asking, I’ll definitely hear out your elders.”

I said that quite loudly so they would all hear me. Most likely, my personal attorney’s authority among his kind had just taken off into the heavens. I saw puzzled looks on the gnomes’ faces, staring at the golems and my pets. Madi was also in a stupor, staring wide eyed at the stone guardians. My personal attorney and the other gnomes spent some time in a daze, having forgotten why they came to my camp.

“Rick,” Madi rasped out, turning to look at me. His eyes lit up with delight. “Is that what I think it is?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“I don’t know what you think it is. If you’re talking about the stone snakes. Then they are…”

“The guardians created by the Lord of the Deep to safeguard our world against an invasion of otherworldly beasts coming through the Gateway to the Abyss!” one of the gray-haired gnomes called out jubilantly, waving his black staff capped with a massive steel sprocket.

“This is Bynuus Bel’lotor!” Madi introduced me to the old man. “Head of Clan Golden Cliff. And also head of my peoples’ council of elders.”

Gotcha. After Gallia, the most powerful gnome.

“Mister Bel’lotor,” I gave a short nod.

“Mister Bergman,” the old man responded with a nod.

As an aside, the other gnomes stayed out of the conversation. They were standing at a slight distance with their mouths agape, staring at my army. And just then, the bronze legionaries standing watch at the cavern entrance were successfully taking down a small pack of wraiths. I was no longer paying any attention to such minor happenings, but the sight of the undead being torn to shreds and thrown all around made a clear impression on our visitors.

“I’ve never seen machines like that before,” Madi said, captivated. “Who created them?”

“Those are the bronze legionaries I was promised by your queen, and which I had to take from Toggy Yojelle,” I replied calmly, not looking away.

Madi though did look away from the captivating spectacle and, his eyes bulging, stared at me.

“But how? I saw our golems. And these…”

“They’ve been upgraded,” I said and changed the topic: “Gentlemen, could you please tell me the reason for your visit to my camp.”

“Good sir magister!” Bynuus took the bull right by the horns. The gnomes for some reason were still calling me by that title, but I no longer had any relation with the Order of Hunters. Still I figured, if it made things easier for them, why not? I didn’t really care. “We have come to request your aid!”

“But, gentlemen,” I looked around, puzzled. “I’m already here. The Steel Legion has been destroyed. The daeva of corruption, too. Along with almost twenty thousand undead. As you can see, I am upholding my end of the agreement. Unlike your queen.”

The gnomes were struck. They had already seen such wonders, but when they heard the primordials had been slain, timid smiles appeared on their faces. They even traded looks.

“Yes, yes, Mister Bergman,” Bynuus started, shaking his gray head and looking crushed. “You have proven to have a lot more integrity than our ruler and kept your word.”

“Then what aid did you come to request?”

“We are asking you to stave off catastrophe!” the elder threw out. Eyes red from lack of sleep, arms shaking, face pale – the old man was clearly on the brink.

“Well, I’m already doing everything I can…”

“You don’t understand!” the old man said with shivering lips. “She’s luring them into a trap! To kill them!”

Then came my turn to be surprised. If not for Madi nodding along with every word, I’d have thought the old man was talking nonsense.

“Explain yourselves, gentlemen.”

“Rick,” Madi glanced over at me, realizing Bynuus was hysterical, and in no state to give a reasonable account. “Gallia wants to destroy the Forge of the True Flame. As soon as Egbert tries to activate his crown, Gramner will remove the containment spell. And then…”

Madi fell silent

“What?” I asked, sensing a chill run down my spine.

Getting himself together, Bynuus started. With every word, his voice grew stronger.

“The Forge of the True Flame is not a simple magic supply! It is the Protosupply! The fate of our people is linked to it. Gallia and Gramner have already made up their minds. They are willing to die fighting off enemies. But what about the rest of her people? Our children, wives, mothers, and sisters? We don’t know for certain what will happen… Our ancient manuscripts say only that destroying the Protosupply will bring great troubles to our lands.”

“Not good,” Lionheart said loudly.

The gnomes all shuddered in unison. And whereas Madi quickly settled down because he was already familiar with my assistant, the elder started looking around warily.

“Don’t worry, Mister Bel’lotor,” I said. “It’s just my spirit keeper.”

The fact that the spirit had also modernized the golems, I did not mention. That was above their paygrade.

The old man nodded but looked tense. Oh well, that’s his problem.

“You know something?” I asked Lionheart.

“I know about two ancient treatises that mention the destruction of protosupplies. One is about a war between two elven kingdoms. In the end, they played a bit too rough and inadvertently created the area you now call the Wastes.”

All the gnomes gasped. I then scratched the back of my head in perplexity. The deeper I delve into all these intricacies, the more I realize I don’t know the first thing about my own world. If I survive, I’ll have to organize the ancient chronicles. Or rather, Lionheart should compile them all together into a new history textbook.

“And second,” the spirit continued in the meantime. “An even more ancient scroll mentioned a great catastrophe that split one large continent into two parts.”

“Are you referring to the Dark and Light Continents?” the elder found the courage to ask.

“Well, they used to be called something else,” Lionheart clarified pedantically. “But yes. That is exactly what it was about.”

The gnomes all gasped at the same time again, while I whistled.

“So, are you saying Gramner has been watching over this protosupply the whole time?” I insinuated.

The gnomes nodded sullenly.

“Gallia, okay,” I waved a hand. “She’s pretty hotheaded. But the Fourarmed one should be aware of where these games could lead.”

“I’m certain he is,” the elder replied with a sigh. “As its creator, he’s acutely aware of what his baby can do.”

Oh, yeah, I felt the urge to slap my own forehead. How could I forget. The Woodwose once told me about that.

“He would rather blow up half the world than give the Forge to the Steel King and his little pet Lich,” the old man said with a heavy sigh.

While I thought feverishly through my next steps, Bel’lotor started an exuberant tale. And all the while, he was extending some scroll wrapped in variously colored ribbons with a small round stamp on every binding.

When I listened to what he was saying, my eyes crept up into my forehead.

“Tell me one more time what you just said,” I asked, soft-spoken.

“Mister Bergman, we don’t have much time,” the elder exhaled wearily. “This document attests that Gallia Longbraid, aka the Liege of all Gnomes, is no longer our queen. The council of elders, comprising thirty clans has determined that her actions upset the balance in our society and led us into an unnecessary war with a group of once friendly governments. Furthermore, from now on, monarchy shall be abolished in gnomish society. Our people will now be led by a council of elders, as in the ancient manuscripts.”

“The document is genuine,” Lionheart shot right out. “It is the true will of their people.”

“It is the will of the clan heads,” I mentally corrected the spirit. “They don’t care about the will of any people. Since when have nobles cared one bit about the will of common humans or gnomes?”

“In any case,” the spirit replied, also mentally. “He has an official document.”

“Let’s say it is,” I nodded at the scroll. “Why are you telling me all this?”

“Because you have proven yourself a loyal ally,” the old man came, and Madi nodded seriously. “And that means that, from now on, despite your affiliation with a dark cult, you are no longer an enemy of the gnomes. And we are officially requesting your aid. Please, stave off catastrophe, good sir magister!”

* * *

It had been less than an hour since the gnomes left. The former rulers of these lands had gone deeper into the mountains in hopes of sitting out the impending cataclysm. Toggy Yojelle was kind enough to give them access to his Stone Paths so they could escape.

From what Madi told me, around seventy thousand gnomes had left the underground city of Stenborg. A pittance. The rest had either died to the teeth of the necromorphs, becoming reinforcements for the undead army, or had been left behind somewhere in the labyrinths under the cave-ins, which the defenders of the underground palace caused a huge number of.

There were also some who, despite the council of elders’ decision, had remained loyal to the deposed queen. Hm… Knowing Gallia, if she ended up surviving this, the gnomes were in for a fratricidal war. She had shown me another side of herself recently. I could now partially understand her mother-in-law, Grumma, Mother of Kings. Even back then, she could see her daughter-in-law’s hotheaded nature. Basically, Gallia was unable to leave well enough alone.

Ahem… A few extra points had been added to my plan.

“Priest, you have to run before it’s too late,” Kera told me unexpectedly. “If the Forge blows up, most of this continent will go with it. That protosupply has just so much pent-up energy it pains me. I haven’t seen the like of it in ages. The best place to sit out the catastrophe would be the Dark Continent. You will be safe there. I’d hate to lose a priest with such great prospects.”

“Half the continent, you say?” my heart fluttered.

“Precisely,” she answered. “You never should have rescued those little humans, by the way – your countrymen. You should have killed them along with the rest. Such a waste of energy.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, trying to make my voice sound steady.

“Do you really not get it yet, fool?” Kera asked with surprise. “Once free of its fetters, the raw energy will come spilling out. That will cause all nearby volcanoes to erupt. Even long dormant ones. Earthquakes will happen everywhere. The ocean will stir into a massive storm. Massive waves will wash all coastal villages from the face of the earth.”

I gulped. Crum and his new family, little Lola, old man Burdoc and aunty Agatha, Jay and many others… They’ll all perish!

“Lionheart!” I barked. “Get ready!”

“That’s right,” Kera purred. “Good boy! Flee to the other continent. Away from this place.”

“We’re going underground!” I announced.

“Whaaat?!” Kera exclaimed. “Priest! What do you think you’re doing?!”

“It’s this or nothing!” I barked. “Remember our pact.”

“You! You little rascal!”

Kera was going berserk.

But I didn’t give a crap. I would not allow all my friends to be killed. It was time to end this war.

Chapter 38

ACCORDING TO MADI and the other gnomes, Gallia and Gramner had probably sealed themselves into the cave nearest the Protosupply.

I had been to that cave before on several occasions. My whipsnakes were born right there in the Forge of the True Flame. So, the amulet did its thing. Honestly though, I was worried Gallia or the Fourarmed kobold might have used some magic to keep me from warping in. But I needn’t have. The arch opened with no problem.

The first through the portal, as usual, was Lionheart. And a second later, he dove back out and gave a quick report.

“They’re there. An old kobold man and a gnomish lady. Nobody else. The man is mortally wounded. The queen is still standing. By the way, I wasn’t able to get a look at their levels. They have some kind of divine artifacts blocking mental manipulation. The gnomes were not lying. The entrance to the hall is sealed with a powerful magic, but soon it will be destroyed. I was able to sense a constant pressure on the seal from outside the cave. I decided not to risk it and didn’t go further.”

“Right,” I nodded. “Anyone spot you?”

“Yes,” he answered. “The queen said you can come. Take care though, she’s clearly not in a great frame of mind.”

“We’ll handle it,” I snorted. “Prepare the golems for transport.”

“Yes, sir!” the spirit said, and my little army got moving.

Preparing to activate a couple spells, I filled my lungs with air and walked through the portal arch with determination. Once on the other side, I turned quickly right to make room for the legionaries hot on my heels.

While the bronze fighters took up position, I looked around. Nothing had changed in the cave since my last visit. Or almost nothing…

The only big changes were to the Forge of the True Flame. The protosupply was now almost five times larger. Compared to it, the stone guardians looked like little grass snakes. The giant sphere was positively wafting with primal energy. Despite the fact I already knew the consequences for our world if that energy were to be all released, only then did I truly sense the full power contained in the sphere.

“Run, mortal!” Kera made another attempt. “Before it’s too late!”

Through sheer force of will, I tried to ignore my patron goddess’ constant babbling, and concentrate on my former allies.

Gallia and Gramner were next to the pedestal the huge sphere was perched atop. Lionheart was right – the gnome looked energetic, despite her gold armor being badly damaged. I saw scorch marks in a few places.

Gramner though, was doing poorly. And that was putting it lightly. The big, huge kobold, stuffed into a suit of matte-black armor was now sitting next to the pedestal, his back propped up against its stone foundation and his heavy head on his chest. Only then did I notice that the legendary blacksmith now had just one hand. The rest of his limbs ended in hideous stumps. Who did that to him?

The kobold’s broad chest was heaving measuredly, while his lone hand squeezed the grip of a huge battle axe. I was unable to see either his characteristics or level. The spirit is right. The old man is being blocked by some kind of powerful amulet of divine origin, as is Gallia.

The gnome was standing next to the man and watching darkly as my army entered.

“Oh, we have visitors!” she finally exclaimed, curling her lips. “The little priest who serves the vile Corpse Devourer! What brings you down here?!”

Gramner gave a slight twitch, raised his head, mumbled out something indistinct, then slammed his head onto his chest again.

“I’ve come to help,” I said unflappably.

“I don’t need help!” Gallia scowled, casting her burning gaze on the neat rows of perfectly still golems.

The spirit is right. She’s clearly not in her right mind.

“Who said I came here to help you?”

“Is that right?” the queen’s thin brows shot up into her forehead. Despite her soot-caked face and disheveled red hair, she was still blindingly beautiful. I even found myself unwittingly admiring her.

Obviously having taken my look the wrong way, Gallia gave a condescending chuckle.

“Then who were you planning to help? Not that handful of pathetic traitors, I hope. Old fools who dragged our people into a quagmire! Wheeler dealers, lazy bastards, pathetic worms! Just look what they did to my government! Our great people once had weight in the political arena, but now they’ve been made an appendage to the Empire of pitiable little humans! In my day, no ruler would have dreamed of defying the Undermountain Kingdom! And now what is happening? The enemy is practically a hair away from the heart of our state!”

After saying that, all red, Gallia suddenly waved a hand at the Protosupply.

“They think they’ve already won! Ha! Fools! This chunk’s too big for them to bite off! And they’ll see that very soon!”

“I know your plan,” I tried to keep my voice steady.

I didn’t care about the council of gnomish elders, or their queen, who they had ceased to regard as such. The head of the council tried to hand me the scroll signed by all clan heads to hand off to Gallia. But I naturally refused that “honor.”

Who did they take me for? No way, old men. I am not some page you can send on little errands. You’ve made your bed, now lie in it. Madi by the way was also not a fan of that turn. My personal attorney was clearly not expecting the old man to do that. The look in his eyes told me he wanted to fall through the floor in embarrassment. I had to give him a furtive wink, as if to say, “I get it, don’t worry.”

My snub to the old dodger was fairly cold. It was intended to let him know that he had just made an error of the crudest variety, and that meeting would be our last. Next time, if anyone from the council wanted to talk to me again, they would have to look for another negotiator. And after that conversation, Madi Belvokrut’s political career was about to take off. Bynuus Bel’lotor’s lucky star meanwhile was starting to slowly fade. I was no longer a simple nulled boy, or even a magister of the Order. I was now a figure of greater significance. As long as I could survive.

“Why does that bother you?” the gnome laughed. “You are her priest now. The more mortals die, the better for her. Isn’t that so? What business do you have with me and my people?”

With every minute, we had to speak louder and louder. Whoever was trying to demolish the stone seal blocking the entrance to the cave had seemingly switched to a more powerful tactic. The blows from outside grew stronger. Cracks appeared on the stone walls around the seal, sending down streams of sand mixed with small rocks. The deafening monotone sounds grew more frequent, echoing around the cave until they fizzled out somewhere around the ceiling. The enemy was about to break through.

“I don’t care about you,” I responded calmly. I don’t think she was expecting that from me. Just the way her face stretched out. “I am here to save my friends, who you now suddenly want to annihilate.”

“If I don’t, your precious friends will be annihilated by the necromancers! In any case, they’re doomed!”

I winced and shook my head. So, she knows the consequences. What a shame. And here I was hoping we’d be able to reach an agreement.

“Is this all meant to be your revenge?” I asked, staring straight into her eyes.

The gnomish woman shuddered, then clenched her fists so hard I heard a metallic crunch.

“When they killed me so long ago, they stole more than my life! They stole my beloved! My dreams! My hopes! My child!”

“Why do all these innocent humans have to pay for what your mother-in-law did? Or gnomes for that matter? Or elves? Because the energy that will be released from that protosupply will destroy more than just your kingdom. It will wipe almost the whole Empire off the face of the globe. Sure, maybe you don’t feel pity for the kings and aristocrats. But have mercy on the common mortals. Imagine how many children you’d be killing! And all to get revenge on some old lady that died a very long time ago?”

“On the other side of that wall is a person whose family helped Grumma overthrow me!” Gallia growled, pointing at the seal. “He must die!”

“I agree,” I nodded. “That’s why I’m here! We will fight him and make him rue the day he so much as thought of taking your life! We will save that world from his undead army!”

“You don’t understand what you’re saying, boy,” Gallia shook her head.

I wanted to object, but at that precise moment, the magic shield gave out and fell to tiny pieces with a deafening thunder. And along with it came a huge piece of the cavern itself, opening a wide, craggy passage.

The earth and walls shook hard a few times, causing a rockslide. Sharp stone fragments started falling from the gloomy ceiling. They were falling to the ground and shattering in all directions with a revolting crunch.

I winced. I had to spend some energy covering myself and my army with a shield.

“Gramner, now!” Gallia screamed out ferociously.

Without a thought about her own defenses, she was hunched over the motionless body of the old kobold and shaking him furiously by the chest. Huge boulders whizzed past her, but she just ignored them. “Gramner! Wake up! Old man, you can’t do this to me!”

“He’s dead,” Lionheart told me quietly.

Much to my own surprise, I breathed a sigh of relief. The thing was that the whole time I’d been speaking to the gnome, I was preparing to attack. If Gramner tried to manipulate the Protosupply in any way, I would have killed him without a second thought. But the gods, or whoever was answerable for all this, had different ideas and rid me of that burden. Still, I would have done worse to save my friends.

As if reading my mind, Kera purred into my ear smugly:

“You did a pretty good job distracting the primordial with conversation. You can thank me later.”

I shuddered.

“That was you?”

“Who else?” Kera asked, sincerely surprised. “I was not going to sit back and watch a very foolish and indecisive mortal try to make everyone like him, risking his own life in the process. And you losing your life wouldn’t be the greatest tragedy. You put my plans at risk! Don’t make me regret giving you so much liberty. By the way, I know how you can repay me now. I want her. The body of that primordial would suit me very well for…”

But she was not able to finish her sentence. The first wave of enemies had started filtering in through the passage. And they were quite a diverse bunch. Giant centipedes, whose flexible chitin gave off a dim glow, reflecting the light of the Protosupply. Dead spiders weaving poison webs. Some kind of black beetles that looked somehow like cockroaches, but as big as bulls. And a lot of other vile undead beasts.

I remembered the first time I saw something like this. Many years ago, there was an anomalous spring rainstorm in Orchus. So much water poured down from the heavens, it flooded all the city streets. And just as the water started to rise from the sewers, which were completely unprepared for all that water, a stream of all the living creatures that dwelled beneath the city came flooding out. Insects and rodents ran wherever they could to escape the elements. Now something similar was happening. Only the insects were a hundred times bigger than the ones in Orchus, and they weren’t running for their lives. On the contrary, they were running to kill.

There were a lot of them, too. A huge amount. It was somewhat like clearing the Temple of Nyx, but the monsters were higher level. Lionheart reported that every single one of them was over level one hundred. Like a rampaging river exceeding its banks, they surged up around our island of resistance, at the center of which towered the protosupply sphere.

The insects crawled on the ground, walls and ceiling. The first centipedes had already started dropping from height right into the middle of the golem formation. Honestly though, they were immediately thrashed by the stone snakes and whipsnakes. Gorgie was closer to me, covering my back.

The first few victory and loot messages came flickering before my eyes.

Ignoring the entrance for a moment, I glanced over at Gallia. She was still kneeling next to Gramner’s dead body, burying her head in his broad chest. Swaying from side to side and periodically shivering with her whole body, she was quietly sobbing, mourning the legendary blacksmith who had raised her as his own daughter.

I shook my head. The fact that it wasn’t me that killed Gramner, but Kera on the sly changed nothing for me. I was also ready to kill him at any moment. So, by bringing the goddess here, I was no less at fault for his death. The fact that Gramner was ready to sacrifice himself to destroy half the continent was a separate matter. In one way or another, I was not overly concerned about that. And not at all because my heart had hardened. My friends’ lives meant more to me than some primordial entitled enough to think he could decide the fates of hundreds of thousands of mortals.

Kera accused me of wasting time. I agree. I had tried to solve things peacefully to the very last. But I was prepared at any moment to stop the unhinged old man. And why hide it? My former ally, as well. But the fact that Kera had drawn the attention of other gods by her unjustified interference in the affairs of primordials – now that was far from the best news. Still, on the other hand, it doesn’t exactly get in the way of my plans. Who knows? Maybe it will even help somehow.

All those thoughts flashed by in my head in the space of a second. I had noticed that I was now thinking faster.

“Gallia!” I barked. “He’s beyond saving! Come fight!”

No use. She seemingly couldn’t even hear me. She didn’t even seem to care what was going on around her.

Essentially, I was one on one against the impending threat. Perfect time to use some of my pent-up energy. But first.

“Coal! Sparky!”

Obeying my mental command, the whipsnakes activated their most powerful spells, burning up all the creatures trying to sneak up behind us. The flow of notifications increased. A wall of fire and hurricane of lightning took down several thousand high-level monsters in a matter of seconds. And while the bodies of the giant insects burnt up, hissing and chittering revoltingly, the whipsnakes turned on the creatures jumping down on us from the ceiling. Lilac-red flashes flickered in the shadowy cave roofs. Hit with balls of flame or lightning, the giant insects shriveled and fell dead on the ground.

Meanwhile, the golems switched to melee and successfully held back the onslaught of the charging centipedes and big, huge cockroaches clacking their mandibles. My shield quickly started to drain.

I winced. The cave was filling with hideous sounds like the cracking of shells, gurgling hisses, and scraping of stones. On top of that, a disgusting burnt chitin and innards smell was filling the cavern.

“Look at your defenses,” the spirit said.

I nodded. I know it’s time. I have to take the shield off the golems. But before that, I’ll relieve a bit of pressure.

― Attention! You have activated the legendary spell Darkness’ Vengeance!

― Warning! This element knows no mercy!

I swiped the notification away with a smirk. That was actually no problem for me. Topping it up with a bit of dark fury, I sent the dark hurricane into the very thick of the giant insect horde, which was so big that some were climbing toward us over the backs of other insects. And I sent my hurricane straight into that “three-layer cake.”

The level-ten legendary spell, enhanced with divine energy and obedient to my will, howled savagely and flickered with lilac lightning bolts as it sowed death in the insect ranks. Before a minute was up, the area between the protosupply sphere and the cave entrance was clear.

“That was over quick,” the spirit snorted. “The beasts stopped coming. But the spell can still remain active for just under eleven minutes.”

I gave a wry smile and directed the whirlwind swallowing up everything in its path toward the cave entrance. Things had just started moving there again.

Before the dark hurricane reached the passage, we felt another jolt from below, followed by another, and another… And a moment later, a big crack appeared in the stone arch entryway, then went racing upward.

A shockwave! And another! And the arch split in twain. And a few heartbeats later, in the very middle of the rock wall, a gargantuan stone flower blossomed. It was as if the world had stopped. There was complete silence. But not for long… A deafening thunderclap intruded on the ringing silence. The stone flower lit up with dark flame and shattered into razor-sharp fragments.

Realizing what was about to come next, I stopped the dark whirlwind and tried to expand it as much as possible. The dark energy obeyed my command and started growing right before my eyes, swallowing up the small sharp rocks.

“Good boy!” Kera squealed in elation. “You’ve learned my lessons! Look at you! Using an attack spell as a shield! A few more tricks like that and you might get a reward! But first… I need the body of that primordial woman! Get it for me before it’s too late!”

I winced, looking away from the whirlwind for a second and glancing at Gallia. The gnome was no longer sobbing. She was standing with her legs planted wide and looking tensely at the cave entrance. Flashes of bright orange ran over her gold armor, and furor beamed in her eyes.

I smiled. Gallia was back.

The whirlwind, after swallowing up most of the stone fragments, started to slowly lose momentum. And although less time had passed than the description promised, I was still happy. I had managed to deflect the attack.

“Too late!” Kera said, crushed. “She activated her avatar! You’re such a time waster! Maybe I never should have given you freedom. That primordial would have suited me very well…”

I tried very hard not to smile while watching the broad-shouldered figure race toward the opening packed into a suit of golden armor. The legendary warrior woman held a huge hammer flickering with electricity high over her head. Gallia thirsted for the blood of her enemies.

“What a specimen,” Kera bemoaned.

Meanwhile, the dust kicked up by the unknown spell started to settle, and a few figures appeared in the huge crack that had formed at the cave entrance.

A swordsman stepped out in front proudly, encased head to toe in steel scale armor. Hm… So that’s what the Steel King looks like in his combat form.

And hot on Egbert’s heels came his loyal hound, old man Sato. The vile lich was there, too. As was his magic sphere. And bringing up the rear of the procession was a big, huge snake with a human torso. When she appeared, I distinctly sensed a familiar chaos magic.

“You know something, Kera?” I chuckled raveningly, staring directly at the snake woman who I easily recognized as the chaos faction magister Nure-Onna. “I think I’ve found a suitable body for you.”

Chapter 39

GALLIA THREW HERSELF into battle like diving into a pond. With glimmering golden armor, and a thick high-crested helmet – she looked exactly how I remembered first seeing her in the Labyrinth of Fright. I even found myself admiring her dance of death. She was both full of grace and a devastating force.

A few high-level undead hopped out of the passage only to die to the monstrous onslaught of her gargantuan hammer. Every swing of the clearly divine weapon was accompanied by a blinding flash. The creatures were cast aside like ragdolls, while the wrathful queen of the gnomes came ever nearer to the steel swordsman.

And naturally, she had run on the attack without so much as glancing at me. There hadn’t even been discussion of coordinating. Too bad… With a bit of coordination, we could have achieved more.

However, Gallia didn’t need my help. Before too long, I saw a few thick cables of magic stretching from the Protosupply to her avatar. Without Gramner, she couldn’t destroy the Forge, but who could tell her not to use its energy?

Based on the crosscut of corpses left behind by the gnome’s ancient-goddess-like rampage, my golems and I would only stop her from reaching her fullest potential. Furthermore, I had no time to get distracted.

After a short nod from the Steel King, Nure-Onna came my way, hissing and grinning ravenously. There was just so much anticipation and delight in her yellow eyes! That brute has had it in for me for a while.

I should note that my presence in the cave came as a surprise to none of them. The Snake just looked so smug. She had clearly asked Egbert for the right to take my head.

Getting ahead of their liege, a few hundred huge reptiles came racing my way, all of them over level two hundred fifty. As an aside though, I didn’t see a single snakeman. The magister of the chaos faction must have lost her personal guard. Survival of the fittest, and all that.

Before the giant bone-armored monitor lizards wedged their way into my golems’ dense formation, a wave of magic arrows came crashing down on our heads. Nure-Onna was trying to break through our defenses in one fell swoop. She must have been rushing to get to me first.

Old man Sato and Alrak though, were taking their sweet time. They clearly viewed the gnome as their most formidable opponent. They were standing still behind their king and, seemingly, not even paying any attention to Nure-Onna or me. Instead, they were concentrating on Gallia, who was drawing ever nearer to the second to last row of undead defending Egbert. But that was a good thing. Let them keep thinking that way.

Were Gallia and I on the same team, I’d have smacked Egbert and his pack of villains with something devastating, not sparing any dark energy. But things were different now. She had given me a clear indication with her attack that we were not allies. Still, watching the enraged demigoddess crush undead left and right, I realized something. blinded by fury and thirst for vengeance, she was practically incapable of thinking about anything other than killing her archnemesis.

I could of course have activated a splash-damage spell, but it would have injured Gallia as well. So, I’d have to take my time. Fracture and Curse of Weakness would come in very handy. The first would cut our enemy’s defenses significantly, and the second would weaken their attack.

Despite the large amount of dark energy I had poured into the two spells, they didn’t work fully. The system notified me that the Steel King and Alrak were able to deflect my magic. The same could not be said about Sato and Nure-Onna, though. They took the hit, as did all the undead and chaos creatures.

Before fully turning my attention to the chaos faction attack, I noted with satisfaction that Egbert and Alrak had finally noticed me. I even gave them a mocking salute with my hand and a half bow which was more meant to openly taunt them than express any sort of esteem.

I couldn’t see the king’s expression through his lowered helmet visor, but I could sense a persistent gaze and failed attempts at mental manipulation. I again smiled in response. My Will, doubled by the archdemon amulet, kept me free and clear of any such attacks.

Alrak’s face though, I could see perfectly. For an instant, I thought I saw a happy smile. What are you smiling about, villain? I don’t like surprises. The cursed lich was clearly scheming though. He didn’t even raise an eyebrow when Egbert “gave me up” to Nure-Onna. And after all, I was essentially his quarry, who had insolently run away right from under his nose. And the king, as far as I recalled, had warned him about my disobedience. Alrak had probably been reproached by his lord about my escape on more than one occasion. And sure, maybe I could have hidden myself away in some far corner of an unknown world, never to return. But I didn’t. And as if that wasn’t enough, now I was back to muddy the waters. To take the lives of Primordials.

Meanwhile, Gallia kept pushing forward. And she was going noticeably faster, clearly trying to seize on the advantage I’d provided. So, her furor hadn’t totally swallowed the legendary warrior woman’s rational mind. She still could account for the fact she was not fighting alone.

But right now, that was all I could do to help her. Furthermore, I had to turn my attention to the chaos faction.

I had not taken the golems’ shields down just yet. I didn’t want to lose all my fighters in one fell swoop. In the end, the magic arrows drained almost fifteen percent of my defenses. If Nure-Onna were my only opponent, that would have been tolerable, but given the situation, it was a luxury I couldn’t afford.

The snake lady’s surprised reaction was something to behold. She clearly was not expecting it. She must have used some particularly devastating spell right off the bat, not expecting her opponent’s golems to be unharmed. As a matter of fact, they didn’t even budge.

Nure-Onna and I locked eyes. Tilting my head to one side, I stared at the oncoming primordial like a wild animal whose heart would very soon grace my trophy collection. But first, she had an important job to do. Which was why I had to try my best to make sure she didn’t die too soon.

The chaos magister did not like the look on my face. Oh boy, she really did not… It was so bad that a shadow of fear flickered by in her snake eyes. She had finally seen firsthand that I was no longer just a failed adept, who ran away from her citadel.

Baring my teeth menacingly, I activated my avatar and, when the transformation was complete, shrugged my shoulders showily.

“Well, shall we get started?” I growled out softly and, covering myself with a canopy of invisibility, watched Nure-Onna’s eyes bulge out with satisfaction. The primordial had lost sight of me. And no wonder. My canopy was an epic level-eight spell enhanced by three thousand points of dark energy. Nure-Onna turned her head all around, puzzled, trying to spot me amongst the neat rows of golems, but got nowhere.

But alas, I could not see her level, either. But high as it may have been, my Will was not powerful enough to stand up against her divine artifacts. But to be frank, it didn’t worry me all that much. I had seen fear in her eyes, and that was all that mattered!

Bursting from place, I raced forward. I had to get to the slightly confused Snake as quickly as possible.

“Don’t you dare ruin her shell!” Kera warned me. “Remember. The sacrificial knife has to be stuck directly into her heart! Do not use dark fury under any circumstances.”

I winced. Shell… So that was how the gods thought of us. Our bodies were mere shells to them.

“Very promising!” Kera continued whispering into my ear, not even able to guess my thoughts but meanwhile distracting me badly. “That primordial is not as powerful as your gnomish friend, but she could also suit me very well. At least until we find a better shell.”

In one bounding leap, I vaulted over three whole lizards. After landing, I somersaulted under the legs of a fourth. Then, two more leaps and the chaos magister’s reptiles were behind me, going all out trying to break through the dense formation of golems. There was no one else between me and the Snake. All that stood between us was a hundred paces and her magic shield.

Right when the chaos magister’s pack of lizards came crashing down on the first few rows of bronze legionaries, I took my magic shield down from them – gotta conserve energy. Beyond that, I’d rather not end up losing my canopy of invisibility randomly. I needed it now more than ever. I started hunting the Snake, whose body I needed undamaged.

Kera thinks I’m putting forth all this effort for her sake. Let her. But she’s in for a surprise. If of course the ancient Knights of the Rift scrolls can be trusted.

While running, I turned for an instant and, satisfied by what I saw, nodded. The golems, under Lionheart’s command, were doing a great job without me. The giant monitors, drained by the weakness curse and fracture had become easy pickings for the bronze legionaries. The spider-like killing machines were mercilessly shredding through reptile bodies with their blades. Scraps of flesh and bone armor went flying in all directions. The damp cave air was filled with the smell of blood and loose guts. A cacophony of metal scraping sounds cut through the wailing of the dying creatures.

The back rows of the giant monitors continued crowding up. A few of them tried to reach the golems by crawling over their brethren’s heads, and at a certain point, from an outside perspective, it might have seemed like the fate of my legion was sealed. But I knew perfectly well that this was just the beginning, and it was still too early for our enemies to celebrate the victory. And I wasn’t the only one who knew that.

Nure-Onna, enshrouded in a semitransparent magic lilac cocoon, was getting a spell ready. Based on how much her fingers were trembling, the magister was very worried. I had never seen her like this before. It wasn’t panic just yet, but it was near it. The snake woman kept looking around as if seeking support from her allies. But they were stubbornly ignoring her. The Steel King had bigger concerns than the chaos faction just then.

“Egbert!” Gallia roared out fearsomely. “Pathetic coward! Just like all your ancestors before you, you hide behind your servants! You can’t do a thing yourself! You’re hoping to be bailed out by your slaves again! I spit right in your pampered little face! Who do you think you are? Emperor? You want to get your grubby mitts on the whole Empire? Ha! Stupid, pathetic coward! You think someone who hides behind his slaves can conquer all the peoples of this world?! Step out in front and fight me! Prove yourself worthy to wear the emperor’s crown!”

I snorted. A middling effort. Still, it was a good idea to try and goad the ugly bastard into a duel before he gained even more power. But the Steel King was not likely to fall for the trap.

Which made it all the more surprising to see Egbert stopping Alrak with a handwave after he’d started forward to go punish the insolent gnome. Before that, I was already hesitating, frozen perfectly still and forgetting about my rival for a moment.

Gallia pulled it off! Ironskin had accepted her challenge! With a showy wave of a curved blade, he headed out toward the laughing gnome with cat-like grace.

“You’re even dumber than I thought!” she shouted out loudly with a laugh, tossing her hammer from hand to hand. “You think you can defeat me?! Stupid Ironskin!”

Egbert didn’t just let her win the war of words, though. His voice sounded out loudly and confidently.

“After I tear out your heart, you chatty brute, I will feed your vile tongue to that young jackal!”

His head tipped. Had he just nodded directly at me? Can he see me perfectly even through the canopy? I gritted my teeth! Abyss! Just as I got the insult, I got hit by another bout of mental magic, which crashed impotently against my Will. He couldn’t get through my defenses. But it didn’t look like he was planning to. The villain had just pointed out my location to my rival. Which Nure-Onna took immediate advantage of. The place where I’d just been lit up with a bright lilac flame. And there were a few dozen such flashes. The Snake was casting at random to try and determine my exact location. I could see the jawbones clenching on her concentrated face. Her snake eyes glowed with a fire of hate.

She had nearly pulled it off. She almost caught me. Half a finger to the right and my shield would have taken that blow, leaving me fully exposed. But I was quicker. A quick roll to one side and I ran in a wide arc around the rampant Snake from behind.

Egbert and Gallia meanwhile, had finally met in battle. Both Ironskin and the gnomish ruler were moving so fast they looked like glowing balls of blurry light, one steel and one gold. The sheer amount of magical power being expended was blinding. The cave was shaking unmistakably. The stone walls, which had already suffered badly during the assault, started to crack in a spiderweb pattern.

While running and watching the epic battle out of the corner of my eye, I was also keeping tabs on Sato and Alrak’s every move. The fact that they had yet to intervene meant nothing. Still, it wasn’t like they were just standing idle…

While Gallia drew energy from the Forge of the True Flame, the old mage and lich were serving as magic supplies themselves, only for the Steel King.

To be honest, I didn’t totally understand why Egbert wanted to personally put down the queen who had rebelled against his rule. Sure, maybe she’d kicked up a bit of dust. Called him a coward a couple times. But who cares? Let her scream herself hoarse. Let her waste her energy and use spells against the undead. Did this vain ugly bastard, who had already long considered himself emperor, really feel insulted? If that was true, I was totally baffled by the aristocratic games they were playing.

The only reasonable explanation would be loot. I never would have considered such a prosaic reason before. But now that my characteristics had hit maximum, I realized that fighting such a powerful rival as Gallia was a chance Egbert couldn’t afford to miss, given he had yet to hit all his ceilings. Beyond that, the Steel King looked totally confident in his victory. The fact that Alrak and Sato were not intervening in their master’s fight could only mean one thing – Gallia was doomed. They were all confident in Ironskin’s victory. And as soon as the gnome was dead, the Protosupply would be fully at the new emperor’s disposal. He would activate his crown, and then taking him on would become an insurmountable task.

Recognition of that fact drove me to move even faster.

The dozen dark arrows I sent flying at Nure-Onna’s chaos shield from behind, came as a surprise. The bright lilac skin of the cocoon wrapping around the Snake’s body flashed a few times then disappeared. The last particularly powerful jolt of dark energy knocked the magister onto the floor, sending her somersaulting a few times over the sharp stones sticking up out of the ground.

“Don’t even think of crippling her!” Kera warned me.

Hissing and snarling in fury, Nure-Onna coiled up into a tight bundle, protecting her torso with scaly rings. She turned her head all directions while tasting the air with her long split-tipped tongue, trying to find me by smell. There was blood on her lips and chin. A few of the coils spasmed, exposing part of the magister’s back for a moment.

It would have been impossible to contrive a better opportunity. Scooping a bit of fury from the dark supply, I activated burst and got behind the Snake in one moment. All that time, she was unsuccessfully firing lilac balls into the space in front of her, turning the rocks all around into boiling pitch. The air was practically ringing due to the unthinkable amount of power she was spilling out. Were I in among the rampant chaos magic, I would have been in for a rough time. But to the furious Snake’s great misfortune, I was right behind her.

With one sudden swing, the sacrificial knife penetrated her scales easily, sinking straight into the heart of the last magister of Chaos.

Nure-Onna gave a faint gasp and her head slumped. Her body shuddered and arched back. Her clawed hands, tearing impotently through the air, tried to reach for the handle of the knife stuck in her back. Her snake rings constricted suddenly, then went limp after a few heartbeats.

“Yes!” Kera declared triumphantly with hints of grave worry. “And now, summon me, priest!”

Chapter 40

“I, ERIC BERGMAN, priest of the goddess Kera, born of Shadow and Night, do hereby invoke the privilege given to me by the Great System and summon my patron goddess into this world!”

I said that in a half whisper right into the ear of Nure-Onna, lying limp in my hands. Lionheart had taught me the invocation, and I committed it to memory. Her snake avatar had already disappeared, and now she was the same woman I had first seen in the Citadel of Chaos. I seemed to remember nearly crapping my pants at the time. She just looked painfully similar to her late sister the Black Widow. Ahem… One more legendary primordial, aka character from a scary story, dead by my hand. For the record, I hadn’t gotten her heart or blood. Nure-Onna must not have been all the way dead just yet. Uh… If that was true, I did not envy her.

A moment later, a text appeared in front of me.

― Attention! You have exercised your right as priest to summon a goddess (1/3)

― Warning! You have just violated a provision of the ancient pact between the Order of Knights of the Rift, and the gods of the Five Pantheons forbidding the summoning of gods!

― You have 24 hours to rectify the situation!

― Failing that, upon expiration of the aforementioned 24-hour period, the aforementioned pact will be considered null and void.

― Attention! Time remaining before the Rift: 23:59:55 hours.

I gulped unwittingly. I knew what I was getting into but, when it finally happened, I was quite shaken.

“Look what we’ve gotten ourselves into,” I whispered, staring into Nure-Onna’s face which, for the record, had changed noticeably. Kera then took hold of the “shell” and started transforming it completely to suit her. The nose grew a bit sharper, chin stretched out, forehead got higher. Nure-Onna’s thin blue lips plumped up and turned pinkish. Then, an instant later, the magister of chaos, or now Kera rather, opened her eyes, making me shudder in surprise.

But that was not all. The Great System had to say something. A short, but informative text beamed back at me:

― Hark, mortals of this world! A new goddess is come, Kera, born of Shadow and Night!

Now nobody warned me about that. I was expecting the event to be dripping with melodrama, but I was definitely not expecting it to be broadcast worldwide. But based on the contents of the notification, every mortal in this world had just seen that short message. That made me vomit as if I’d been made to swallow a nasty worm.

Somehow getting my worry under control, I ran a hand over my eyes and again focused on the goddess. She then, clearly savoring the moment, gave a ravening smile to reveal a sharp set of fangs.

“Here I am, priest! You happy to see your queen?”

Not finding a response, I just gave a scant nod.

“Pf…” Kera rolled her eyes, which had not lost their snakelike yellow hue. It was being quickly replaced by blackness, though. And it was the kind of blackness that could make you hiccup from just one glance. “You’re still just such an uncouth oaf.”

I didn’t answer. I just winced at yet another upwelling of magic, which emanated hard enough to reverberate in my guts.

Kera just lied there in my arms, glancing sidelong over at the ongoing fight between Gallia and the Steel King. She snorted comprehendingly.

“If one of them gets to me right now, all your efforts will have been in vain. I need time to adapt. Give me protection and share energy.”

“Want me to bring you to the temple?”

“The altar is practically empty,” Kera cringed, watching the fight closely. “You haven’t made a single sacrifice there.”

I wanted to respond that all I’d been doing recently was providing her with energy. Some types just can never get enough… But I had to exercise self-restraint and keep quiet.

“Anyway, this shell will not be helpless for long,” Kera said and nodded toward the Protosupply. “Soon, I will have a great deal of energy.”

Then she turned to look at me and, squinting, said:

“You don’t look happy. I don’t see any joy on your face.”

I caught myself and squeezed out the broadest most radiant smile I could muster.

“Of course, I’m happy. Immeasurably so, my liege! I’m just worried about you!”

In reality though, I was deeply displeased. My patron goddess had just started sucking down my dark supply like a leech, but she was also more vulnerable than ever before. Essentially, in this state, she was at my mercy. Lionheart read in the Knights of the Rift library that gods lose a lot of energy just after transferring into a new shell. Which is why priests try to pick the best possible body for their patron god. With decently sized supplies and high characteristic figures. To put it more simply, it would have been hard to find a better opportunity to carry out my plan.

But I could not enact my plan just then. And there were two reasons. Egbert and Alrak. With Kera on my side, I had a better chance of winning. I had no hopes for Gallia. I had been watching their duel out of the corner of my eye all that time. And by all appearances, she was losing. At first, though, I got the feeling she would smash the Steel King to bits. But Alrak simply could not allow that to happen. That damned cursed lich again!

All those emotions must have been reflected on my face, because Kera suddenly brushed my cheek with what was now her hand, then said with a smirk:

“You mortals really are quite touching.”

She must have taken my expressions in her own way. Oh well.

In any case, it wasn’t stopping her from unloading half my dark fury reserves. When I glanced at my supply figures, my expression changed abruptly. I had already opened my mouth to object, but Kera stopped me:

“It’s only proper. And be ready to defend me. Your pals are already aware of what happened.”

She said, nodding toward Alrak. When I glanced at the lich, we locked eyes. I was expecting to see just about anything in his gaze, except for cheer. But his grim countenance, looking more like a bare skull with a layer of blue skin stretched over it was beaming with happiness and delight.

“What’s he so happy about?” I whispered with cracking lips.

Kera winced.

“Any time but now, anyone but him…”

I turned to look at the goddess.

“What’s going on?”

“Don’t you get it?” she snorted and, grunting like an old woman, started getting up off the ground. “He’s a priest, too. And his god has been preparing for the Rift for a long time. The pact is about to be broken.”

“Meaning…?” mechanically reaching a hand out to the goddess, I stood along with her.

“Looks like Shkha-Ras will be coming to pay us a visit,” she said.

It sounded so commonplace yet ghastly at the same time that I felt a treacherous chill run down my spine. And by the looks of things, the person to blame for one of the vilest gods in existence coming to our world was going to be me. Abyss…

“Get ready to defend me!” Kera rasped and took a step back. Into the darkness of the cave. “He wants to sacrifice me to give Shkha-Ras more power.”

Alrak meanwhile had lost all interest in his master’s duel and started coming my way. Sato shouted out something unintelligible. He must have been trying to stop the lich, which he didn’t react to at all. Then the old man tried to manipulate the undead sorcerer with a spell.

And that he should not have done. Alrak waved a bony hand without turning as if swatting a fly and kept moving. Sato though was unprepared. His magic shield popped like a soap bubble, and a dark tentacle plunged into his flesh. Familiar spell. Sato’s eyes bulged out. He shuddered, then a fountain of blood erupted from his mouth.

I shivered. The hideous tentacle started shrinking. With a slight quaver, it started sucking all the life force out of the old man. Another few seconds later, Sato’s body was a mummy wrapped in a dark robe. And a second after that, the hunk of flesh that was once the king’s supreme mage fell lifeless to the ground.

The lich meanwhile kept coming our way. So, had he just violated a blood oath given to an ancestor of Egbert? Where was the punishment?

The disobedience had an immediate impact on Egbert. Previously dominating the fight against the gnome, he quickly started ceding position. And no wonder. The Steel King had just lost the two supplies feeding him energy all at once.

Gallia, able to sense that her opponent was weak, started pushing a bit harder, but wasn’t fast enough to savor her victory. A dozen dark tentacles shot out of the necromancer’s sphere and plunged into the Protosupply, cutting off the gnome queen’s magic intake.

The Forge of the True Flame didn’t stand up against the lich’s manipulations for long. At first resisting and taking force, in the end the Protosupply started giving up its energy.

I gulped with a parched throat. In a matter of minutes, the overall picture had changed drastically. I looked the approaching necromancer in the face and started slowly coming to the realization that the creep had this all planned out from the start. He was prepared to enact his scheme at any moment. And he probably had several plans. Just one insignificant detail was left. But this detail was like a single grain of sand shifting the balance of a scale by falling on one side instead of the other. And by the looks of things, that grain of sand was going to be me.

I turned to look at Gallia and Egbert’s ongoing fight and got the impression nothing had changed for them. They were both fully engrossed in their fight, raining down blows on one another both physical and magical, fully ignoring everything around them.

“Bravo, kid!” the lich rasped with a dead voice, clapping showily. “Letting you go before was a big gamble. But I make a habit of trusting my instincts. And you took me by surprise. I mean… You did more than I was even expecting! Bravo!”

So, the spirit and I had guessed right. Alrak did tacitly allow us to run away from Foreston.

We were only fifty or so steps away from each other when I heard a familiar clang to my left. Lionheart, finished with the chaos lizards, was putting the golems into formation in the oncoming lich’s path. But he just laughed and shook his head.

“You really think those hunks of metal can defeat me?”

I shrugged. You wanna talk? Let’s talk. I’m still biding my time.

“If you’re thinking of using my body to summon your loathsome god, forget it!” I growled. “You’ll never take me alive!”

The necromancer arched his head back suddenly and broke out laughing. His laughter reminded me of the cackling of ravens.

“Foolish mortal!” the lich responded when he had finished. “First, remember who I am. If I wanted to use your body, it wouldn’t matter whether you were alive or dead. What makes you think you’d make a suitable shell for my master?”

“Isn’t Egbert your master?” I decided to point the conversation a different direction.

“Never,” the lich snorted with scorn. “I have but one liege! My oath of loyalty to my god is stronger than any other oath I’ve given!”

“You were looking for a loophole to do your god’s bidding,” I muttered.

“And you helped make it,” Alrak replied, baring his teeth.

Out of the corner of an eye, I watched the Protosupply gradually start to go pale, giving its energy to the lich. Time was slipping through my fingers like sand in an hourglass. What about Kera? What’s taking her so long?

“Sir, the golems are ready!” Lionheart told me. The spirit’s voice was very shaky.

I nodded and got ready to activate a spell. In the meantime, I started slowly ambling toward Alrak’s long shadow. I of course stood no chance of actually hurting him. It was already clear that, even after all the changes I’ve undergone, I still had a long way to go before reaching the level of creatures like the lich.

“Listen, kid,” he addressed me. “If you give her to me without a fight, I will beg my liege to forgive you. Very soon, he will need such promising servants as yourself. We have lots of work ahead of us, and you could become very influential…”

“Would I be dead like you?” I interrupted him.

“What’s so bad about being rid of the burden of weak flesh?” Alrak asked, nodding toward the king and queen. “Look at those two. What are they fighting for? Informed by their pathetic and insignificant needs, they are trying with all their might to satisfy the desires of their so-called living flesh to no avail.”

“Doesn’t sound so bad to me,” I shrugged, taking another small step. “And what’s the alternative? Rotting alive? Denying all pleasures, emotions and life itself at the end of the day?”

“You’re young,” the lich shook his head. “You know nothing of life. She is a very capricious lady and favors those like you. But the older you become, the more distinctly you will understand there is no more loyal and constant an ally than Death! She does not betray. Because she is never far. She is always over the shoulder of every mortal.”

Alrak’s words had a morbid air that chilled me to the very marrow. And it sounded so plausible I could practically feel him breathing on the back of my head. It took me effort not to turn around.

“Sooner or later, She will come for you,” Alrak came and added:

“And if you accept my offer, it will be very soon.”

“You think Shkha-Ras will forgive me for destroying the altar?” I asked.

Another step toward the zigzag shadow…

“The old hag and her flying buddy are to blame for that,” the lich came. “Beyond that, you didn’t have a choice. The corpse devourer must have made you. My liege always shows favor to those willing to serve him, no matter what is said about him.”

“What does your god want with this world?” I gulped louder than expected. “To kill us all and turn us into his puppets? What would be the point? Necromorphs are incapable of worship!”

“As I’ve already said, you are still too young and there is much you do not know,” Alrak shook his head. “This world is but a tiny dot on the map of Creation. And the Great War is being fought for each and every dot. It’s as ancient as Creation itself, and dreadful. And everything happening right now…”

Alrak looked around at the cave and gave a scornful snort.

“This is all just… Well… The pathetic childish games of mortals. But I see your potential. I see you are capable of truly great deeds in the name of my god! Despite being an unknown commoner, and nulled on top of it, you accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. Imagine what will happen when you get rid of your weak shell and accept the power of Shkha-Ras! You, boy, know better than most what it means to suffer from bodily weakness. Your whole life has essentially been a struggle against a frail body. So now, give me your answer. What good is such a life to you?”

“I won’t argue, I had a rough childhood, but things are going pretty well now.”

Alrak rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Kid, we’re wasting time,” his tone shifted. Apparently, the talks were coming to a close. “You must make a decision this instant.”

“No,” I answered. “My answer is no!”

The necromancer’s shadow was just ten steps away from me.

“Have you really thought it through?” Alrak asked, raising his chin. “Know that after dying, you will serve me for a long time as a basic, useless necromorph. And I will not allow your soul to escape from your body.”

Tensions were running extremely high. Inside, I felt like a compressed spring in a gnomish machine, about to pop up at any moment in a cascade of magic attacks. The sphere around Alrak’s body also washed over with darkness and concentrated. And right when I was about to burst off toward the necromancer’s shadow, a ball of Darkness flitted up from behind me and slammed into the lich’s magic shield.

The surface of the sphere rippled and instantly grew brighter. Then, for the first time, a moment later, I saw the indomitable Alrak fly back a few paces like a regular necromorph knocked back by a Ram.

The first ball was followed by a second, third, and fourth… They essentially tore the necromancer’s magic sphere to pieces. Alrak was rocked side to side like a straw-filled ragdoll. He tried to snap with his tentacles. But what good were they? The balls of Darkness chewed through them like young nettle shoots being pulped by a heavy club.

“You’re really holding your own, priest,” I heard a purring voice to my right.

Turning sharply, I saw Kera in the flesh. She smiled broadly, flashing her white fangs, and nodded at me.

“Let’s finish that brute off before…”

But before she could finish, a familiar notification appeared.

― Hark, mortals of this world! The god Shkha-Ras, Lord of the Necromancers is come!

Chapter 41

“SO, THE WRETCHED CORPSE finally broke through!” Kera hissed in disappointment and thrust both hands toward the Protosupply.

I meanwhile watched the necromancer’s fading defensive sphere start to change form. The large number of gaps left by Kera’s spells kept healing over right before my eyes, condensing and filling with energy. In magic vision, the lich’s sorcery, or rather his god’s was a swamp green shade.

The shell that had recently been Alrak adapted almost instantly. The lich must have been saving up energy for a very long time. Plus, he was still drawing it out of the Forge of the True Flame. The thick tentacles had ensnared Gramner’s baby like a giant squid.

“The bastard!” Kera growled furiously and lowered her hands in helplessness. “Sucked out all the supply’s energy… I’ll have to work with what I have.”

After saying that, she gave me a look that made the hair on the back of my head stand on end. A moment later, Kera spread her hands as if trying to wrap her arms around the entire cave and cawed out in an unfamiliar language.

I first perked my ears up but got a cold shoulder from the Great System. My Mind was not yet advanced enough to comprehend the ancient divine dialects of the dark pantheon.

An instant later, translation was no longer needed. I could tell perfectly well what my patron goddess wanted. My trim columns of golems fell to the ground on my command as if by magic. The same thing happened to the stone guardians. All my pets shuddered at once and turned their heads in my direction, stunned. I didn’t fail to notice the phenomenon, either. My two supplies: dark and magic drained instantly. My eyes even faded, and I lost my breath.

“Perfect, priest,” Kera said, standing with her back to me and not turning.

“She sucked all the mana out of them in one fell swoop!” Lionheart practically screamed into my ear, gasping in indignation.

I winced. Another headache. Could have done without that.

The avatar faded away without mana, as did my shield. But I looked on in satisfaction as Wisdom started refilling my magic supply at an accelerated pace. Only now, I had no source of dark fury. The necromorphs and chaos beasts quickly stopped coming. I’d have to figure out how to do this without it.

Quickly recalling my pets, I made a wide curve left around the Protosupply.

“Good thinking,” Kera muttered. “Gotta cut that creep off from the energy. It isn’t likely you’ll succeed, but sometimes even a stupid little fly can drive a person crazy.”

Yeah, right until they get whacked.

“Kera!” the sonorous cry made me stop short. “You venomous thief! Finally, we meet again!”

The gigantic swamp-green cocoon opened up like a carnivorous flower, and a lithe figure emerged from its wide petals.

I was expecting to see almost anything: a half-rotten corpse with a dozen limbs, the big huge skeleton of a savage beast or, more likely, a shape shifted Alrak. But much to my surprise, in the gaps between the sphere’s “petals,” I saw a young man of rather pleasant appearance.

A short stately blond with subtle facial features, he turned his exacting, world-weary gaze around the cave. The corners of his pale lips twisted up in scorn.

“What a desolate spot!” he snorted and brushed nonexistent dust off his shoulder with a delicate, well-groomed hand.

The young man was wearing a velvet doublet of imperial cut, embroidered with silver lace and braiding. Culottes, silk stockings, elegant dress shoes with a big silver clasp. It all formed the impression that the young man had been brought into our cave directly from the height of a royal ball in some kind of palace.

So, this capital-city dandy is Shkha-Ras?

For a short while, I stood perfectly still like a pillar of salt. Hmmmm… Not exactly how I pictured the ghastly, terrible god of all necromancers. If not for the bluish pallor and dark green eyes with a drowned sort of cloudiness, I might have thought I was seeing the son of some rich aristocrat.

“Welcome to my world, cousin!” Kera greeted him with a derisive edge. “I won’t lie, you’re the last person I wanted to see here!”

Oh, the sheer amount of poison dripping from her words.

“Your world?!” Shkha-Ras exclaimed indignantly and even stamped a foot. “Your world?! Oh, you deceitful creature! You’ve only just arrived, and now you’re trying to lay claim to my world?! Do you have any idea how long I’ve been preparing to come here?! Don’t you dare call me cousin! The family disowned you a long time ago!”

“One little correction, my sweet cousin,” Kera snorted. “I left that horrid den of vipers of my own accord!”

“And you became a vile scavenger!” Shkha-Ras said with disgust. “You got into the habit of taking energy that was not meant for you!”

“Early bird gets the worm,” Kera chuckled and shrugged.

What is she doing? Trying to make the god of necromancers mad?

“This ends today,” Shkha-Ras said surprisingly calmly, clearly indicating that Kera had failed to ensnare him. “You cannot even begin to imagine how upset the others are with you. But I’m glad to be the one to catch you!”

He even rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

“Is that so?” Kera just kept laughing. “You so sure of that? Remind me, dear cousin, who always came out on top when we used to fight?”

The blond man’s bluish face went slightly dark. That must have been how he blushed. I’m scared to even imagine the kind of corpse toxins flowing in his veins. Based on his reaction, he had not often come out on top.

“You’re forgetting that all you’ve done recently is hide and feed on carrion,” Shkha-Ras snorted. “I meanwhile have been accumulating energy. I admit, your little priest has caught me by surprise. He provided you with a good deal of food, but you have to understand that it is not enough to defeat me.”

“I assume you have a proposition for me then?” Kera asked, tilting her head to one side.

“Yes, cousin,” Shkha-Ras nodded. “Submit to my will. Surrender without a fight. Why waste energy? You have no chance of winning. If you agree, you may keep everything you’ve gained recently.”

“And if not, cousin?”

“Then you know what to expect,” he responded with a scowl.

“Hm,” Kera stroked her chin, mimicking contemplation. “Tempting. But no, I don’t think I’ll agree. I’d rather spend all my energy than surrender to a weakling like you.”

“Oh you…”

But before Shkha-Ras could finish, Kera suddenly spread her arms and a whirlwind of dark blotches descended upon the necromancer god’s cocoon. The cave instantly darkened, then a disgusting dead flesh smell wafted over aggressively.

“You want to play?!” I heard Shkha-Ras say peevishly. “Let’s play!”

With every moment, the timbre of his voice changed. The last word he basically roared out. His appearance had also started changing very rapidly. His pure white locks instantly turned gray and thinned out to reveal a bald head. The pampered skin stretched around his skull wrinkled up before my very eyes. The black holes of his eye sockets turned into red dots. His fancy outfit fell to dust and a black magic robe wrapped around the body of the god of the dead.

Kera laughed out loud.

“Cousin, your weakness is that you’ve always had a flair for dramatics! But that is an inexcusable waste of valuable energy!”

Shkha-Ras kept silent. He answered in a different way. A dozen tentacles shot off toward Kera and touched her opaque defensive cocoon.

I frowned. Spells, tentacles, a cocoon, a sphere… But this is…

“They use the spells of those whose body they come to inhabit,” Lionheart said what I was thinking. “But they enhance them with their own energy.”

Well of course! So, what does that give us? A big fat nothing. Essentially, whichever deity had more energy was going to win. Still, based on what I’d heard, Kera always came out on top when she fought her cousin. She seemed to be more skillful. But now practically everything was working against her. Both the shortage of energy and Nure-Onna’s body. Alrak was much more powerful than the magister of chaos. Now I see why Kera was so insistent on taking Gallia’s body. Even I, a former zero, had a simply massive assortment of spells in comparison with the Snake’s arsenal.

While the gods traded blood-curdling magic blows, I got to action. I considered Gallia in passing, but compared with the gods coming to our world, her duel with Egbert seemed insignificant. Above all else, I had to try and break Shkha-Ras’ connection with the supply. Hm… Easier said than done.

The tentacle wrapped around the giant sphere seemed just about to pop it. The Forge of the True Flame had once been sizzling with power and threatening to blow up half the continent, but now it looked like a dim magic torch that hadn’t had its mana topped up in a long time. A bit more and it would stop glowing completely.

But what if we leave everything as is? At this pace, Shkha-Ras would drain the supply and it would simply go out. Reminds me of the way I first saw it. Before Gallia shared a special artifact with old man Gramner to relight the True Flame.

I’d even say the supply was safer when unlit. Stenborg of course would be left without mana, but that would be better than constantly worrying the sphere might get destroyed and take with it every living thing for thousands of miles.

No. Things could not be left like this. Every last droplet of energy was crucial to Kera. Shkha-Ras had already started pushing back.

With a heavy sigh, I got ready to attack. I decided to start with the most basic spell. I struck the tentacles with my first bolt of lightning. That was followed by ice arrows and spears. After that, ram and stone spikes. But despite the spells being max level, without dark fury to enhance them, they were rather weak. And that was no big surprise. I’ll try attacking the god now.

As expected, the tentacles didn’t react to my “mosquito bites” whatsoever. They just constricted tighter and turned darker.

I shook my head in disappointment. I was getting nowhere. It would of course have been possible to try Incineration or Oblivion, but I was not interested in touching the cables pulsating with malicious divine power. Plus, they had a low chance of working, just like the other area-of-effect spells. I was just wasting mana, which was already in short supply. Wisdom was quickly refilling it, but not enough. Plus, Kera kept siphoning off the crumbs I was accumulating.

My patron goddess, by the way, had clearly overestimated her power. The battle of the gods had been going on for less than a minute, but Kera was already very much on her back foot. All her energy was going into shield upkeep. She of course was trying to tie up her cousin with melee combat, but he just laughed derisively every time and sent his persistent cousin flying back. And now, having backed her into a corner, he was trying to break through her cocoon with his tentacles.

They kept shouting things at each other but I, unfortunately, couldn’t understand. It was the same divine dialect of the dark pantheon as before.

Suddenly, a red-hot spear tip pierced into my brain, searing with Kera’s voice:

“Priest! You must make a sacrifice! I need energy! Now! Your creatures! Kill them! Otherwise, Shkha-Ras will win and then you’ll be in a very bad position! And don’t even think of running away! Shkha-Ras will find you in the end. And do not believe what his priest said. My cousin is very vindictive. You destroyed one of his altars. No god could forgive such a thing. Do it!”

I winced. Yeesh, big ask! No way, brute. I’d rather help Shkha-Ras kill you off than give up my pets.

While I tried feverishly to think something up, my gaze latched onto the corner of the pedestal where the Protosupply was resting. And there, right at its base, lay the mutilated corpse of Gramner the Fourarmed.

I had already turned to look away, but then it dawned on me… Wait! That’s it!

I considered it briefly and burst forward, while Kera cursed in the belief that her priest had opted to flee the battlefield. She threatened me with all kinds of divine punishments and promised she would catch me no matter how deep a hole I stuffed myself away in. But soon, the stream of curses and threats ran dry. She had bigger concerns. Shkha-Ras managed to make a breach in her defenses. A few tentacles wrapped around my patron goddess’ body. He then, laughing loudly, said something in his cackling tongue. Essentially, the only thing preventing Kera’s demise was the Nure-Onna snake avatar. And by all appearances, it was not going to hold out long.

In a few bounding leaps, I found myself hunched over the body of the legendary blacksmith. Ahem, he had taken a beating. I could even guess who had chopped him up so bad. Based on the clean cuts and slices that had severed his limbs, the old man had crossed paths with Egbert.

My heart aflutter, I took my hand out of my backpack and unclenched it to reveal the heart of a primordial.

“Come on!” I rasped. “Come on!”

― Attention! You have the opportunity to resurrect a Primordial!

― You will need:

― Heart of a Primordial (1).

― Drop of Primordial blood (7).

― Do you agree?

― Yes/No.

“Yes!” I exclaimed triumphantly. “Hurry up!”

An instant later, the heart dissolved in a flash of bright lilac, entering the giant kobold’s broad chest. Seven drops of blood instantly dried out on his lips. Gramner’s body turned into a dark ball of violet. Then, a few seconds later, his head twitched, and I heard a loud inhale. The old man started breathing. The ball of energy around his body dissolved and I suddenly saw the four-armed primordial alive and kicking.

Despite his lack of eyes, I could tell he was looking at me.

“You?” I heard surprise in his muted voice.

“Here you go, old man,” I handed him another five phials of blood. “You have to stop him.”

Gramner turned his head toward the fighting gods and shuddered.

“What have you done?” he barked.

“No time to explain,” I waved it off. “And who are you to talk? You were just about to destroy half the continent. Let me warn you, if you try something like that now, I’ll kill you again!”

The old man lowered his head and “looked” at my hand on his shoulder.

“I’ll turn you into a heap of ash, and no one will be able to bring you back again,” I said, applying pressure with my will. “Got it?”

Gramner nodded and replied despite himself:

“You needn’t worry, boy. The True Flame of the Protosupply has almost burnt out. It no longer has the power to self-destruct. It would need too many sacrifices to do what we were planning now.”

I felt all cold inside. I didn’t even want to consider who had been sacrificed before. So, Gallia wasn’t as blameless as she thought. Now I understood the gnome elders. What good is it having a nutcase queen on the throne to incinerate sacrifices in the True Flame, only so she can use it to destroy half the continent.

“Restrict Shkha-Ras’ access to the energy,” I demanded. “You can do that, right?”

To be frank, I didn’t know what to expect from the primordial. I was just acting situationally. I was ready to strike him down again at any moment. Honestly though, then I would have had to run away from Shkha-Ras’ fury.

The kobold “glared” at the fighting gods, then sniffing, looked around the cave and shuddered. I turned as well and saw Gallia lying among the stones. One of the Steel King’s blades was sticking out of her chest. The swordsman himself was lying limp like a broken doll a few steps away from the gnomish queen. I first gave a start but, after getting a close enough look, stopped. Egbert’s body was headless.

So, Gallia pulled it off… Thousands of intelligent creatures had perished. Several cities had been destroyed. But now our archenemy was finally dead. I meanwhile felt nothing. No happiness, no relief. Just all burnt out inside. I could deal with my feelings later. If I survived to the end of the day.

“Can you bring her back?” the old man nodded at Gallia’s body.

“Do what I said, and she will live,” I responded.

“Agreed,” the old man replied shortly and stood to his full height. I then snuck a sigh of relief.

Shaking and stretching his regrown arms, Gramner shrugged his shoulders. After that, with a step toward his baby, he clenched all four hands into fists. Then, a moment later, the giant sphere responded with a powerful flash of light.

Shkha-Ras’ tentacles didn’t like that. They shuddered and jumped back from the Protosupply instantly as if it were a red-hot piece of metal. The god himself turned straight around and stared his red eyes at those who dared stand in his way.

The body of Gramner the Fourarmed grew a heavy set of bone armor, and each hand sprouted a battle axe.

“Pathetic mortals!” Shkha-Ras rasped. “You will regret defying me!”

He raised his bony arms and shouted something in his throaty parlance. A few short seconds later, subterranean creatures started streaming in through the enlarged cave entrance. There were a lot of them. A huge amount.

Shkha-Ras wanted to say more, but he was interrupted by Kera laughing happily.

“You’re such a moron, cousin! You haven’t changed one bit!”

Shkha-Ras’ face stretched out and he looked first at us, then at his cousin, who was practically in his thrall. He was an inch away from finishing what he’d started. But despite all that, the woman he believed had but a matter of seconds left to live, instead of begging for mercy, was giving a full-throated laugh and mocking him.

“Priest!” Kera shouted. “Feed me energy!”

While Shkha-Ras tried to figure out what his cousin was laughing about, I had already started activating Decay of the Abyss. A shame there wasn’t any dark fury to power it up. But that was not so bad. The dark supply fills up quick.

One of my most powerful spells, crashing into a wave of higher undead, turned their bodies into a blob of putrefaction. A series of loot notifications flickered before my eyes. My dark supply started filling up quickly.

“Yes!” I heard Kera’s voice in my head. “Good priest!”

And just then, I felt a hard push to my shoulder. I rolled a few yards over the stone floor, then quickly got to my feet. All damage from the unexpected blow was absorbed by Muckwalker’s Defensive Aura. At this pace, I’d have to start summoning spirits soon. My closing arguments.

Looking toward where the blow had come from, I froze. And just in time. Because the next thing I was going to do was activate another deadly spell. I restrained myself at the very last moment.

As it turned out, Gramner had attacked me. Or more accurately, that was what I first thought. But when I saw what was really going on, I shivered inside. The Fourarmed blacksmith had just saved my hide, letting one of the tentacles hit him instead. While I concentrated on attacking the undead, Shkha-Ras had decided to punish the insolent priest.

It was a miracle Gramner’s magic shield held out. But I knew why. The Protosupply was now fully bound to its creator.

Shkha-Ras meanwhile now had bigger concerns than me. Kera, having received her portion of energy and drained my supplies again, started really running wild. The god of the necromancers now had to defend himself. Beyond the defensive sphere, magic tentacles wrapped around the body of their master, absorbing the come-back goddess’ every blow.

“Priest!” Kera said to me mentally. Her voice was ringing with tension. “You must leave this cave. What I am about to use on him will most likely kill you. Your mission is to stay alive, then come back for me. Get out of here!”

She didn’t have to tell me twice. I quickly darted over to Gallia’s body. I gently lifted her up. It actually surprised me how light she was.

“Gramner!” I shouted to the kobold, who had been blocking me all that time with his body. “Let’s get out of here, old man!”

At first, he stopped for a moment, took a grim “look” at the Protosupply, then nodded at some thought in his head and ran off after me. While he ran, the sphere behind him was gradually darkening and, the second the kobold flew through my portal arch, it stopped glowing completely. The True Flame of the protosupply had burned out.

Just an instant before the portal closed, I saw the cave flood with pitch Darkness. Kera had struck her enemy with something devastating and lethal.

Chapter 42

THE PORTAL TOSSED US OUT in the upper city. A few miles to the south of where we had been defending. I was not planning on dragging Gramner to the Temple of Nyx, much less the Knights of the Rift sanctuary. I had brought him to the surface. Now it would be up to him to decide where to go next.

Once amongst the ruins, I gently set Gallia’s lifeless body on a stone slab. I gave her a look over. Whew, she’d really taken a beating. A fragment of the curved blade was still sticking out of her chest. Her body was all caked in blood. Her clothing had been torn to shreds. Without the avatar, she seemed fragile and small. Exactly like when I found her in the Labyrinth of Fright.

My hand reached for my pocket to take out a primordial heart and some blood all on its own. At a certain point, I thought back on the last few hours of the gnome’s life, and quickly stopped considering her a martyr. But my hand didn’t twitch or stop. Gramner was looming over me, and he had to see that I was not planning to break my word.

Not one ounce of doubt. Otherwise, I would have to scrap with this mountain of muscle and magic. He must have sucked out a good chunk of energy from the Protosupply on the way out. He’s positively wafting with power. I am not willing to waste mana on a pointless battle. There was just no time. To be honest though, I also had no desire to bring Gallia back. Essentially, after the Steel King and Alrak’s downfall, there were few in this world who could stand up against Longbraid. Maybe the Keepers of the Forest. But on the other hand, if Kera lost, this world would need Gallia. She wouldn’t have an easy time stopping Shkha-Ras, though.

All those thoughts flickered by in my head in the space of a second. And when I was about to take the primordial heart from my backpack, a heavy hand came to rest on my shoulder.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Gramner droned from the helmet. “Consider your promise kept…”

I turned and stared at him, perplexed.

“But…”

“Save that heart and blood for some other time,” the kobold blacksmith interrupted. “It’s hard for me to talk about, but Gallia is no longer the sweet, brilliant gnome I knew and raised. She is incapable of being constructive. And a constructive ruler is exactly what her people need right now.”

He pointed around at the ruins of Stenborg and added:

“The gnomes have a lot of work ahead of them. They’ll have to band together to pull it off, not cut each other down. Because that is exactly what Gallia will do when she wakes up. First, she will cut down the entire council of elders, then she’ll come after the clan heads that supported the decision to depose her. And those poor saps have had it bad enough.”

Then Gramner crouched over the queen’s body and picked it up gently.

“I will hide her away,” he said before stepping toward a cliff face peeking out in the distance. “Let her lie in rest until her people need her again.”

“You’re leaving without asking?” I said in surprise.

“You’ve been keeping our world safe from otherworldly monster incursions all this time. I trust you, knight.”

I stumbled.

“Do you not think I realize what’s going on?” the old man snorted. “Finish what you’ve started! And hurry up before that brute gets any more powerful. And may the Goddess Fortuna smile upon you, young knight!”

But I didn’t have time to answer. The old man turned his back to me and, a second later, disappeared into thin air, taking Gallia with him.

“Transportation magic,” Lionheart commented, not having let slip a single word all that time.

I breathed a loud sigh, sat on the rock and said with a rasping voice:

“Unexpected…”

I got the feeling the spirit was about to let loose a whole tirade. He must have built up a lot of emotions in that time. But before he could get started, a system message appeared before my eyes, which shut him right up:

― Hark, mortals! Shkha-Ras has departed this world!

After that, with a slight delay, another notification showed up, this time for me personally.

― Attention, descendant of the Knights of the Rift! You have taken part in expelling Shkha-Ras, Lord of the Necromancers from this world! Disavow the mark of Kera, born of Shadow and Night, and stave off the coming of the Rift! In so doing, you will be saving this world!

― Bear in mind! Time is running out!

“Time to go!” I said and opened a portal.

First to dive into the arch was Lionheart, as he’d done before. He was gone less than a minute, but to me it felt like an eternity.

“Hurry,” he said after reappearing, and added, crushed: “The beast is almost completely defeated. The golems are all gone. All that’s left is ash. Same goes for the Steel King and his henchman Sato. There will be a cave in any second. She’s calling for you.”

I took a step but stopped.

“She can wait. You said ‘almost?’“

“The Protosupply is intact,” the spirit answered and added: “There’s also this…”

After that, the steel crown appeared in my hand. I cleared my throat mutedly. Here it was. The thing that had caused so many deaths.

“The rest of the divine artifacts were destroyed,” Lionheart sighed sadly.

I rubbed my eyes and, with a heavy sigh, tossed the highly dangerous artifact into my backpack. I genuinely wished it had also burnt up in Kera’s dark flame. If anyone finds out I have the crown… No! Nobody will ever know!

“Lionheart,” I came coldly. “Not a single soul…”

“Who do you take me for?” he objected with slight offence.

Paying no mind to the spirit, I shrugged and, taking a deep breath, dove into the portal arch.

It was dark, cold and damp in the cave like a crypt. The True Flame had gone out, but I could still sense the emanations of spent magic in the air. And if even that was turning my stomach, it scared me to imagine what had happened here just a few minutes earlier.

“Priest…”

I shuddered. A faint voice. Almost a whisper. I started to look around.

“Priest…” the call came again, but even fainter.

There you are! Kera, or rather what was left of her, was lying on a set of sharp stones near the far wall of the cave.

Three long bounds and I was crouched over the nub of my patron goddess’ body. Or to be more accurate― her shell. She was missing her left arm along with everything that was once below her waist. Slate gray intestines had dropped out of her belly onto the stones.

She was lying in a pool of dark blood and smiling. Her face looked like a wax mask. In it, I could make out something of Kera, and something of Nure-Onna. Looking at her, I both recognized her and didn’t at the same time.

“I beat him again, priest…” she whispered, still smiling. Blood came dripping from her mouth down her chin. “It’s just a shame he escaped after his shell perished… The villain!”

“Still, great job, my liege,” I responded.

For a moment, I even felt sorry for her. She just looked so pathetic. But I got myself together right away. To the dark goddess, this was just a shell she could slip out of at any moment. Or rather, could have if not for the sacrificial knife I had driven into the Snake’s heart, and which was still sticking out of it. Essentially, it was holding Kera in the “shell,” but only so long as the Snake’s body was still alive.

“Hurry up, priest,” she whispered. “This shell is dying. I’m keeping it alive for now, but it won’t last long.”

I extended a hand to pick her up.

“Be careful with the knife,” she warned. “It cannot leave her heart until we’ve completed the sacrifice ritual. I will not be able to take up residence in this half-dead shell again. This time you can’t wriggle out of it. I need your harn!”

Her eyes flashed a formidable shade of black.

I got on guard. Strangle her now? Then what? All that would get me was the final death of Nure-Onna’s body. I simply did not have the power to kill Kera. I was not up to snuff. She meanwhile would be sure to take revenge on me for betraying her. And why would she care about any restrictions or ancient pacts? Especially given less than a day remained before the Rift would open.

I had to get myself together and stick to the plan I’d developed earlier, which was already on its tenth iteration.

“Yes, my liege,” I said, bowing my head. Thankfully, she could not see my eyes.

“A good priest is an obedient priest!” she said, satisfied. “Never forget that, mortal! And now bring me over to the altar… We can save this shell. I’ve taken a liking to it.”

* * *

When we found ourselves in the lower hall of the temple, I carefully set Kera on the altar and, lowering my head, took a few steps back. I did not want to meet eyes with the goddess. It was possible she might sense something wrong at any time.

“Alright,” Kera rasped, closing her eyes.

A gleeful smile played on her bloodied lips. I also noticed that her body was slowly healing. The fearsome wounds healed over before my very eyes. At that pace, she’d sprout new legs in less than an hour. The goddess was drawing energy from the altar.

“Summon your harn, priest,” she ordered without opening an eye. “I will need a lot of energy.”

“Would hearts and primordial blood not do?” I made a fleeting attempt.

Most important for me then was to play to her expectations. If I agreed too quickly, Kera’s ears would perk up.

“I knew you’d start wheedling and begging!” she shook her head. “No, priest! I told you! This time you will not wriggle out of it! I need that sacrifice!”

I kept silent. I was dragging my feet, trying to make Kera very upset.

“Priest!” she growled, not opening her eyes. “Do you intend to defy the will of your goddess?”

After a brief pause, I squeezed something out.

“No, my liege. But…”

“No ‘buts,’ priest!”

I felt an invisible vice grip squeezing my body. Kera was trying to pressure and scare me, but she could not force my hand. No god could. The Incarnation Ritual required a voluntary sacrifice.

Seeing that I was not relenting but starting to waver, Kera dropped the stick and reached for the carrot.

“Listen here, boy,” she started admonishing me with her purring voice. “After the ritual, I will make your every wish come true. As my supreme priest, you may have as much power and money as you like. This world will be mine! It already is essentially mine! All that remains is the final step. Just imagine the rewards that will await the one who comes to my aid!”

“I have a bond with that animal,” I muttered, striving to put on a dubious voice. “He has saved my life many times.”

“Yes, so what?” Kera asked with surprise. “You can find yourself another pet. Several, in fact. As many as you like. I can help you tame such dangerous creatures that the world will shiver at their might!”

“Are there any like that in our world?” I raised my head. Let her think she’d caught my interest.

“Who said anything about this world?” she chuckled. “Oh, babe! You cannot begin to imagine the kinds of monsters roaming around ancient forgotten worlds! Your harn is a pathetic little kitten compared to them. His entire value is your bond. Do you understand?”

I nodded mechanically and put on a broad smile. Let her think she’d caught my interest. I even took the summoning amulet from my backpack.

“That’s it,” Kera encouraged me. “Very good.”

“You promise?” I asked.

“Of course!” she smiled back.

“Then you have my agreement!” I said with a burning gaze.

In confirmation, I summoned the harn. Gorgie could immediately tell something was up. He poked his armored forehead into my side. But I was pointedly ignoring his look and affection. If I open up to him now, Kera will sense it.

Gorgie purred a few times. He touched me with his right paw. As if to ask, “what are you doing, master? I’m here, right? Pet me. What are you playing at?”

“Delightful!” Kera was clearly satisfied with the scene. “What a bond! He will make the perfect sacrifice! Time to begin!”

She laid her head on the altar and closed her eyes. She breathed a few times and froze. Then, a few moments later, I heard her voice sounding like it was coming from inside a barrel. Meanwhile, her lips were no longer moving.

“Remember, priest! You cannot delay for even a second! As soon as you get the signal, sacrifice the harn and spill his blood over my shell! If you pull it all off – you’ll get a reward. If not – expect a punishment.”

Finally, the strange voice stopped, and silence came over me, broken by shaky, plaintive breathing from Gorgie. I could see out of the corner of my eye that the poor cat had shrunk and put his tail between his legs. But he didn’t try to run away. His status still indicated “loyalty to master.” My heart beat hard when I looked at him. It took a colossal amount of willpower to resist bursting forward and embracing and petting my poor little brother. Not yet…

When I was visibly shaking in impatience, a long-awaited message appeared before my eyes. In it, the Great System was suggesting I perform an Incarnation Ritual to bring the goddess Kera into this world. If I agreed, it told me to present my sacrifice. The whole procedure lasted five minutes.

“You did it!” Lionheart exclaimed. “I cannot sense her!”

I smiled wide. Yes, I did! Kera now… It’s hard to explain… It’s like she’s stuck in a cocoon awaiting birth or incarnation.

The ritual was described in depth in one of the treatises Lionheart found in the Knights of the Rift library. And that was when I hatched the insane plot to get one over on Kera. I never would have been able to kill her – I was not strong enough to tangle with gods. But there was another way…

“We don’t have much time,” I said hurriedly to Lionheart and turned to Gorgie, who could finally sense my true emotions. “I’ll explain everything later.”

The harn purred in satisfaction and licked my cheek with a hot tongue. I in response stroked his head and smiled.

“No one will ever take you away from me!”

When the harn disappeared, I walked up to the altar and started speaking loudly:

“I, Eric Bergman, by the right bestowed upon me by the Great System, do hereby disavow the goddess Kera! As a descendant and inheritor of the Knights of the Rift in this world, I summon Nyx, Great Goddess of the Night as witness to enforce the ancient pact!”

Four minutes remaining…

System messages flickered before my eyes saying that I was no longer a priest of the goddess Kera, and that her mark had disappeared from my body. Along with the mark, all the crystals of Darkness she granted me also disappeared, and my dark fury supply got greyed out. Farewell, dark energy powerups… What a shame… I’d gotten so used to them…

After that, the Great System told me that I had just made myself a Knight of the Rift and that I now had access to all the mysteries of the sanctuary. The heretic curse also disappeared and, thanks to the Harmony fibula I had pinned showily to my chest, all my spells could now coexist without a problem.

And my worries about the archdemon amulets and my characteristics proved unfounded. The Great System let me keep them all.

There were lots of messages. I had yet to study them all. But Lionheart could cope just fine. I didn’t have time. During the ritual, it felt like time was slipping through my fingers like water. And I still hadn’t gotten a response. Kera was just about to escape to freedom, but then…

“You sure are an insolent boy,” I heard a pleasing female voice behind me, and time stopped. Darkness descended on the room.

I felt like how I felt when Kera appeared to me in her true form.

Turning sharply, I gave a respectful bow. But without deference. I was now a Knight of the Rift, after all.

“The great goddess Nyx!”

“Insolent, and you have an attitude!” the voice laughed, somehow similarly to Kera. It was purring and predatory, just like hers.

I had run through this conversation in my head hundreds of times. I was very well prepared.

“Please do not judge me too harshly for my manners, great one.”

I gave another short bow. And again, without losing face or dignity.

“Manners?” the voice from the darkness laughed. “What do you have to say about the temple you helped her take from me? Or the ancient altar? How do you propose I judge you for that?”

Despite the fact that I could hear a mocking edge in the goddess’ voice, I also sensed a threat.

“Responsibility for that does not lie with me, great one. Or do you believe a priest should bear responsibility for the actions of their deity, while said patron meanwhile gets to hide behind a mortal?”

Come on, admit that the gods are just petty little jerks, incapable of taking responsibility for their actions.

Nyx snorted. Then, without hostility, she said:

“Like I said, you sure are insolent! So, what do you want, insolent mortal? What will you beg me for?”

“I summoned you as a witness to enforce the ancient pact between the gods and my ancestor.”

“Do you mean the Rift, which is about to happen very soon?” the voice laughed. “What’s in it for me? In just a few hours, we’ll be able to come back to this world. You simply cannot imagine how many are there now awaiting their chance.”

“Who might they be?” I asked unflappably. “Probably ten or so lesser demons and Shkha-Ras, pissed off by your daughter. Not great company, don’t you agree?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I could sense annoyance in Nyx’ voice.

So far, I was on the right track.

“That hungry lesser demons will come flooding through the Rift. They’ll make an awful mess before our mages take them down. I by the way will be taking very active part in that.”

“But what if you tire?” the voice cackled.

“I agree,” I nodded. “We are but mortals. But after I fall, the ones you originally made that pact with will come. And maybe even stronger ones. Trust me, the system will inform every Knight about the Rift. No matter where they may be. As a matter of fact, several of my fellow knights will be arriving before my fall.”

I was bluffing, but it seemed to be working. Still, how was I supposed to know? Maybe I was telling the truth.

The voice said nothing, clearly wanting to let me finish the thought. Which I immediately seized on.

“We can take down some demons and minor gods. But then, you’ll be the one who has to pay for the mess.”

“Why should I have to answer for what others have done?” she objected.

“Perhaps because you refused to enforce the pact as witness. You did come to my summons, right?”

“You little weasel!” Nyx exclaimed, furious.

“Listen, great one,” I continued, now calmer. “Based on the fact that you do not appear to have been in too great a hurry to come into our world for the last few centuries, all this turmoil is coming at a bad time for you, as well. And as far as I can tell, the coming of a Rift and subsequently having to deal with the Knights is not in your best interest. To me, it looks like you have bigger concerns and wasting energy would be an unforgiveable luxury.”

“You are correct, mortal,” Nyx agreed with me unexpectedly quickly. “I have no need for this turmoil. But still, it’s your fault…”

“Well, in that case, I have a gift for you,” I nodded at the altar before she could finish. “As far as I’ve heard, you’ve been looking everywhere for her. Missing your runaway daughter?”

The silence drew on for a few seconds. The altar, and Kera lying on it were enshrouded in Darkness. And when it cleared, the flat stone slab was empty…

― Hark, mortals! Kera has departed this world!

She accepted my gift. Without a word or expression of emotion.

“I, Nyx goddess of Night, do confirm that Eric Bergman has staved off the coming of the Rift! Satisfied?”

Nyx’ cold voice pierced me straight through.

“You have my gratitude, great one,” I again made a respectful bow.

“You defiled my temple and my altar, pathetic mortal!” Nyx continued, casting every word like a stone. “I will not forget that. Next time, think thrice before summoning me. In fact, here’s some advice! Next time we meet, it will end in your death!”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I remembered, no longer bowing.

Then, a moment later, the darkness dispersed, and light flooded into the temple.

I breathed a heavy sigh and slowly sat down on a pedestal near the altar. I was not able to properly catch my breath before I heard a familiar voice. It sounded like it was coming through a very thick wall.

“You betrayed me, mortal!” Kera growled from afar. “I will find you, no matter where you go! And then you will regret ever being born!”

I shuddered unwittingly and felt a tingle run down my spine. I spent some time sitting, listening to every rustling sound but, seemingly, Kera was now very far away and had bigger concerns than me. She had crossed too many gods.

Rubbing my face, I stood up suddenly and started decisively for the now open portal. I still had lots to do up on the surface.

Chapter 43

“MASTER!” LIONHEART OBJECTED. “Listen to me! If you don’t keep an eye on him now, anything could happen! He doesn’t yet have the experience to work with such mechanisms!”

I sat back in a big comfy armchair, looking lazily out from a second-story balcony over a quiet river curving smoothly along the flat banks where old man Burdoc and aunty Agatha’s house stood.

In the inner courtyard, which I could also see well from the balcony, people were setting a table. I heard a cheery din, laughter, and happy conversation. Today, all my closest friends had gathered here. Not counting the homeowners, Crum had come to Dremen along with his new family, and Jay and her mother and four little sisters, which turned the quiet little home into a bustling hive of activity. Lola and Nika, Crum’s new sisters, ran around the house like little hurricanes chasing Jay’s two kid sisters. The bigger sisters were helping the women set the table.

Brown, whose real name turned out to be Arvid, and who was not too big a fan of his old nickname, was sitting on a bench with Burdoc smoking a pipe and lazily discussing recent political news.

Gorgie added to the chaos just by being there, sprawled out near the kitchen door and watching closely as the food was brought to the party table. Very quickly earning everyone’s adoration, and the trust of the cooks, the little swindler was always able to get himself the choicest cuts. And that was from almost everyone. First the girls run past and “accidentally” drop a piece of meat pie, then someone else treats the “poor hungry kitty” to a nice snack. I just snorted and shook my head. At the end of the day, that’s Gorgie. He can really gorge himself.

We got lucky with the weather. The sky was clear the whole week and the sun was generously sharing its warmth with us.

I felt so nice and calm that even Lionheart’s insistent nagging couldn’t spoil my kindhearted mood. He meanwhile had already switched to his official tone. It was times like that he started calling me “master.”

“So, are you finished with the sanctuary’s archive?” I decided to cool his jets a bit.

It had been just over six months since Kera had been driven out of this world. The Great System viewed my contribution positively, so it recognized me as a Knight of the Rift, which gave me full access to the ancient organization’s mysteries. Beyond potions, scrolls, gold and valuables, there were a lot of interesting things there. But we still had yet to dig in and, as ever, there was never any time.

“Not quite yet,” Lionheart threw out, but immediately went on the attack. “But the archive can wait! The new golem models can’t! That Blabbermouth will definitely mess something up.”

I frowned and rolled my eyes.

“Alright,” I relented and opened a portal to the sanctuary. “Go. Just don’t get in his way! If I find out you were tripping him up, I’ll leave you in the archive to sort papers, and make you recount and sort all the coins. Got it?”

“Yes,” Lionheart uttered, disappearing into the magical passage.

“Let me know when you’re finished!” I threw out after him.

“Ahemmm,” Crum drawled out from the chair next to mine after the portal closed. “I won’t be getting used to that any time soon…”

“What exactly?” I snorted and shot my friend a funny look.

Crum had really grown up recently. His muscles filled out. A rosy glow had appeared in his cheeks. His level and characteristics were a bit better, too.

As for his clothing, level, and appearance – as expected, my friend had spent all my gifts wisely.

“All of it,” he waved. “Talking spirits, portals, huge monsters, golems, primordials… Gods… If somebody told me three years ago that my best friend was going to expel two dark gods from our world, I never would have bought it. I’d have even called them crazy.”

I shrugged my shoulders. None of that has surprised me for a while.

“He mentioned someone called Blabbermouth,” Crum nodded over where the portal arch had been.

“That’s my second spirit helper,” I responded and added: “The System was feeling generous after I destroyed the otherworldly portal on the Dark Continent.”

“The one you told us about yesterday?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “The Steel King and Alrak opened it in the mountains in advance of the attack on Foreston. As soon as I was done with the gods, I set off for the Dark Continent to burst that pustule.”

“So, you are now a Knight of the Rift and magister of the Order of Monster Hunters?” Crum clarified.

“Indeed,” I responded. “I worked my reputation back up and the Great System gave me back my rank. Still, to be honest though, I really did not want to get involved with the Order again…”

“And what changed your mind?”

“Well, first of all, now I can get sparks of the otherworld again, which my spirits use for their experiments. And second, I decided to lay claim to the Order’s properties in the Empire. Lands, estates, castles, bank accounts.”

“Yes,” Crum nodded. “Those are big reasons.”

“The foxfolk don’t care what happens in our kingdoms. They will never come here. And so, I decided not to let a good thing go to waste.”

“I fully approve of your decision,” Crum said with an acrid smile.

“And now I wanted to put you on reclaiming our capital. Together with Madi Belvokrut.”

“The same Belvokrut who announced the founding of a new bank?” Crum lit up and looked sidelong at me dubiously:

“One second… Based on the smug look on your face…”

“Aha,” I chuckled. “The bank is mine.”

Crum whistled and shook his head. Then responded:

“I’m up to speed then. This is a great opportunity. Everyone needs money.”

I nodded in silence. The world was in real turmoil. After the death of the Steel King, Gallia, and Alrak, the Empire was thrown into a series of wars and minor local conflicts. Every ruler from king to minor baron considered it their duty to multiply their fortunes at the expense of the lands and properties of their neighbors while everyone was distracted.

There was a schism in the Order of Mages. Shitang and his supporters were fighting against a group of disgraced mages headed by Litzia Silras. At first, I thought the official authorities would easily suppress the uprising, but without the Steel King for support, Shitang was having a tough time. And I now did not know who would end up as supreme magister of the Order of Mages. Litzia had grown a lot stronger recently and made some very powerful allies. Basically, she had learned from our conversation. I by the way, was trying to keep my distance from the whole mess while keeping my fingers on the pulse.

Fradia held out even after the death of its great ruler. The nobles were supporting Princess Anna, Egbert’s daughter, who was preparing to become Anna the First. The biggest outside player was the king of Taria, who got his bearings quickly and announced his son Albert’s engagement to the future queen of Fradia. And essentially, the once planned marriage took place, but now on Tarian terms. The princess had essentially become a pawn.

As an aside, her daddy’s Steel Crown was now being stored in the Knights of the Rift sanctuary, which was essentially the safest place in our world.

I turned a blind eye to that. What mattered most was making sure my friends were okay, and nobody summoned all kinds of filth into this world. Essentially, I had become a powerful but neutral figure, whose existence everyone had to reckon with, but who no one was in a rush to ask for help, instead preferring to solve their issues on their own. And that was fine by me.

For the record, the elvish uprising worked out the same way. When I met up with Tananth, he greeted me fairly coldly, even a bit apprehensively. And that was after I had gotten rid of Kera’s marker. He categorically refused my help. He wasn’t even afraid of the horde of lizardfolk that was just about to make an incursion into the elven forest. I just shrugged my shoulders at that. All the better for me. All I cared about was that the Heart of the Elven Forest did not consider me an enemy. I saw a clear indication of that.

I played an active part in providing aid to the gnomes, though. The news that they were temporarily under my protection flew around the Empire instantly. And the council of elders was sincerely grateful. So, there were never any instances of people trying to get rich on the suffering in the gnomish mountains.

Stenborg had been through enough. To now be further subjected to a flood of pillagers? No, I was not willing to turn a blind eye to their truly poor condition. So, for the first few weeks after expelling Kera, my whipsnakes stood guard at the border of the undermountain kingdom.

As if overhearing my thoughts, Crum asked:

“How are the gnomes doing?”

I sighed.

“Restoration work is in full swing. They don’t have enough workers.”

“I’ve heard,” Crum nodded. “They announced that they are willing to hire workers in… But I just don’t know who would have the courage to go out there. After everything humans did to them, the gnomes are not likely to treat them well. Even though it would be nice…”

“If you take on that task, I guarantee protection to all work crews you are able to hire.”

Crum shuddered, and a radiant smile appeared on his face.

“Now that changes things! I just so happen to have a person in mind who could arrange for that!”

“Go for it,” I nodded. “You have my guarantee.”

My friend smiled ravenously and rubbed his hands together. I laughed looking at him. He still looked like a kid, but inside he was a wheeler-dealer par excellence. Considering he was once able to fill both our bellies with two sad little esses, the kind of capital I could provide him access to might end with the whole Empire in the palms of our hands. And we wouldn’t have to declare ourselves emperors.

“It’s almost finished! Come sit down.”

Crum and I both turned to see Jay, who had just appeared on the doorstep.

He jumped up from the chair and ran down, thanking Jay on the way and shouting out to me that he was going to be first to the pancakes, aunty Agatha’s signature dish.

We’d already been sitting for an hour, drooling at the mouthwatering smells coming out of the kitchen. I caught myself thinking a few times that I envied Gorgie, who was just lying at the door to the holiest of holies. If not for my status and Jay’s persistent gaze, I would now be happily jumping down from the balcony to beat Crum to the pancakes.

Based on the crafty smirk, Jay was in on the game, but in no rush to leave. She must have had something to talk to me about.

Holding in a sigh of disappointment, I smiled welcomingly to her and motioned for her to sit on the chair Crum had just shot up out of like an arrow.

Thanking me with a brief nod, she sat down on the edge of the chair and said:

“I won’t take too much of your time.”

“Don’t you worry about that,” I waved. “Did something happen?”

Jay blushed slightly and looked down, embarrassed. Hm… Now that’s a new one. I’d never seen her act this way before. It’s actually curious. She had my attention.

“In a certain sense, yes,” she replied, not looking up. “Or rather, not yet…”

I cleared my throat. Now I was even more confused.

“Quite the strange answer, don’t you find?” I chuckled.

Shaking her red curls, she laughed cheerily and looked at me. Then, we met eyes.

“Rick,” her face lit up. “I’m getting married!”

“Oh!” my face stretched out. “Is that so? Didn’t see that coming. Congratulations! Who’s the lucky guy?”

“He’s nice,” she replied right away. “And loves me very much. He even went against his family’s wishes for me. And his family is very rich and influential… Merchants from the silver guild.”

I snorted and frowned.

“You’re no penniless bride yourself, sister. And you have a magic supply. Do they have any idea the size of your dowry? It’ll be more money than they’ve seen in their lives! Any count or even king would be happy to have a bride like you!”

For some reason, the fact that someone might take Jay for a poor woman or beggar trying to cozy herself up to a family of merchants made me very angry.

“Uh,” she cleared her throat, embarrassed. “Here’s the thing… You see, brother. They don’t know about you yet. Nor does my fiancé. Nor that I’m a mage. Basically, they think I’m just a commoner…”

“Oh!” I rubbed the back of my head. “That changes a lot. And the fact that your fiancé still didn’t back down? And went against his family’s wishes?”

Jay smiled wide.

“That’s what I’m saying. He’s very nice and loves me madly.”

“What about you?” I asked.

“Me, too,” she answered firmly, looking me straight in the eyes. “And I don’t want any count, much less king…”

And I realized – she loved him.

Tilting my head to one side, I squinted.

“So, what’s the game?”

Jay smiled slyly.

“Well, nothing really. I just wanted to tell you the news and invite you to the wedding. And then see how thunderstruck they are when they realize who my brother is!”

After a bit of idle chat, we went down to the table where my whole family was gathered. The fun and games were in full swing. Crum, as he warned, had occupied a spot next to the pancakes. His only competition was Gorgie, who had long since eaten his fill of the delicious dish.

Once seated at the table, hearing the laughter and conversations and looking into the faces of my chosen family, I gave a sad smile. A little wooden figurine of a forest creature appeared in my hand all on its own. I knew that everyone realized who I was grieving. Thanks to my sharp hearing, it was no challenge for me to overhear several women talking in the kitchen. Basically, everyone had concluded that they were not going to mention my bad mood as if nothing was happening, for which I was grateful to them.

And two days later, I left Dremen. Before I left, I needed to pay a visit to the keeper of the Heart of the Stone Forest.

* * *

“You want to meet them?” Mee asked.

We were standing in a wide clearing carpeted in dense juicy grass and dotted with young bushes. And just to think. Not all that long ago, the walls of Newtown towered over this place. But after Alrak and Sato paid it a visit, the living city had been reduced to ash. The only positive was that nobody died. As soon as he heard Foreston had fallen, Mee came for the Hunters and led them into the glade. And they were later joined by Brown and his troops.

“How would it benefit them?” I answered with a question.

“I suppose you’re right,” Mee agreed after a brief pause.

My brother had changed a great deal recently. No, not on the outside. He still looked like the same gremlin, though he was a bit taller and broader at the shoulder. But inside… He now carried himself with an air of power. Just like I once sensed in the Woodwose. The only difference was that Mee’s power was not aggressive. And the Forest all around clearly perceived me as a friend. As an aside, Mee was the only one never to lose faith that Darkness had not swallowed me up. He told me as much directly. The foxfolk, too. Basically, I always would have been welcome in the Stone Forest.

“Are they doing okay?” I asked.

“You don’t have to worry about them,” Mee assured me. “Brown and Wheeze are doing a pretty good job leading.”

“Wheeze,” I chuckled. “He really fought his way to the top.”

“When everyone found out about your dark mark, Wheeze was the first to suggest that Darkness was just a means for you to defeat the necromancers. And he turned out right.”

I just shrugged my shoulders. What could I say?

We spent a bit of time ruminating. Mee was first to break the silence.

“So, you going back?” he asked suddenly.

“Yes,” I answered. “Even if it’s been thousands of years there, I made her a promise. And I have to go back.”

Mee placed a hand on my forearm. He always did that when he wanted to support me.

“You’re right,” he said quietly and added with embarrassment: “I wanted to ask you a favor.”

I raised a brow in surprise.

“Anything in my power.”

“I…” he got off to a rocky start. “How do I put this…?”

I smiled. A glimpse of the old Mee. A modest gremlin with no confidence like when Gorgie and I saved him from orcish slavery.

“Tell it like it is,” I encouraged him with a smirk. “We’re not strangers, like…”

“Alright,” Mee nodded and gently took an object from his pocket. It looked to be very small… Wait! No, anything but that!

“Here,” he said and opened his hand.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” I groaned and covered my eyes with a hand. There was a tiny little seed sitting on the gremlin’s hand. “What do you think I am, a nanny?”

Mee kept silent, but in his eyes, I could see that he was playing a joke.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he finally started. “It may have been thousands of years there. And there’s no way to know what the Forest in that world is like now. If it died, then this seed will be a new beginning. If not, you can plant another great forest, which will be friendly to you. It’ll make me rest easier.”

I took a heavy sigh. If Pinebogey or Tananth had asked me this, I’d have gone straight to a categorical no. But this was Mee…

“I understand.” I answered. “So, this is a grandson of that Forest.”

“Granddaughter,” Mee corrected me with a smile. “I think you and her will learn to get along quickly. I’ve named her Hell Raiser.”

“Just what I need, a Hell Raiser…” I muttered under my breath, gently taking the seed from Mee’s hand.

“Take care of her,” he asked. “She’s still small.”

“Not my first rodeo,” I grumbled. “I somehow wrangled three of them before. Just one… Even if she is a Hell Raiser.”

The seed we were talking about had not opened up. But I could tell she was trying to study me. I know. I’ve been through it before. Let her get the hang of it first. As an aside, despite the extra headache, she temporarily solved the issue of refilling my mana supply in Mink’s world. So, it was all for the best.

“Well then?” I asked. “Should we say our goodbyes, brother?”

Mee nodded and we embraced firmly.

“Take care of yourself,” he said. “And come back soon.”

I did not mention that they wouldn’t even notice I was gone. No reason to spoil the moment.

“And find her a good keeper,” Mee added, nodding at the little seed in my hand.

“Of course,” I responded and opened a portal to the snake den cavern.

* * *

After the cave-in, a cavity had formed around the portal obelisk. Something like a sphere or cocoon. And I entered that cocoon after sending Lionheart to scout.

When I activated the amulet of the wanderer, my heart was about to jump out of my chest. What if the world on the other side is totally different now? Or what if there’s nothing left alive there? I couldn’t send the spirit to scout.

I was not afraid that I would not be able to return. This time, that was not going to be a problem. Because now, as a Knight of the Rift, I’d gotten a new amulet from the arsenal. And regardless of where I was, it could transport me to the sanctuary and back. And that applied to other worlds, too. It was basically something like my amulet of Charon but bound to the sanctuary.

― Would you like to cross over?

— Cost of service 10,000 mana points.

“Yes,” I replied with lips alone and stepped through.

Keeping in mind what was waiting on the other side, I braced myself and activated a shield. The last time, I ended up falling straight down a several-story hole in the floor. Which ended up draining my mana supply.

But this time, thanks to my enhanced reaction time, agility and speed, I didn’t even fall. I just grabbed onto a rusty steel rod sticking out of the wall and easily found my footing next to the portal.

I took a quick look around and said:

“Go scout.”

“Yes, master,” Lionheart replied gravely, then added pensively: “According to what you said, it’s been several thousand years. But if that is the case, why is this building still here? One look is enough to tell that it would not be able to remain standing for so long. It is clearly not a gnomish work. The technique is garbage.”

“I agree,” I nodded, and something clicked inside of me. It was something I had been constantly trying to suppress, not even daring to give in to hope.

I looked out the window at the dead city. It was snowing. Based on the huge snowdrifts, it was the middle of winter. But when I left, it was warm.

“Relatively clear,” Lionheart reported after returning from his scouting.

“Relatively?” I asked.

“I detected one small pack of five hyena-like creatures. And another larger predator hunting them. But they are not a danger to us. Even in theory. None of them have levels. It’s exactly as you said.”

“Some will have levels,” I muttered and walked over toward the exit. “We shouldn’t let our guard down.”

I had yet to summon Gorgie. I was going to use Charon’s Amulet anyway and be brought straight to the walls of Pinevale. If of course Hedgehog’s settlement was still called that. And although Hell Raiser was providing a stable energy flow, I still had to be prudent with mana.

“I remember,” Lionheart replied.

Walking up to the opposite window, I looked down at the snowbank lined streets and breathed a heavy sigh. There was no colossal destruction. No real destruction at all compared to before. The spirit was right. There was no way several thousand years had passed. After that much time, nothing would have remained.

I gave a timid smile. But still, it was too early to celebrate. This city could easily have stood for a hundred years.

“Let’s keep going,” I announced and activated Charon’s Amulet. Lionheart dove straight into the arch and, when he gave his signal a minute later, I did, too.

Ahem… I found myself standing knee-deep in a snowbank and looking out at a huge wasteland where Pinevale had once stood. There was nothing left of the settlement. It was like it was never there.

“The people left this place approximately one year ago,” Lionheart concluded.

I shuddered. And looked around at the wasteland one more time. It was like I was seeing it for the first time. Does that mean…? Wait! It doesn’t mean anything yet. Too little information.

Without another second’s delay, I opened another portal.

“Where are we going?” Lionheart asked.

“I want to take a look at the old settlement where Mink and Badger lived,” I responded. “See if there’s anything left…”

I wanted to step forward but stopped for a moment. I heard a barely audible whistling in the distance. It was coming from the forest, which I could see on the horizon.

“Go check,” I nodded, closing the portal and activating invisibility.

“Yes, master,” the spirit replied and shot off to scout.

A few minutes later, he came back and started a report:

“Humans. Seven men. All without levels. But all of them have initial transformation stages.”

I nodded.

“Keep going!”

“Equipment, and weapons…” Lionheart continued the report. “No armor. Bows, arrows, knives and short spears. They are travelling on skis. All of them. If I may be so bold, I believe they are a party of scouts or hunters. But scouts are more likely.”

“Why?”

“They’re travelling light,” the spirit started. “And stealthily. They aren’t paying attention to animal prints. I followed their ski tracks back. They crossed two fresh animal paths, without deviating so much as a yard from their chosen trajectory.”

“Where are they going?”

“West, presumably.”

I stroked my chin.

“Well, okay… Let’s get to know them a little better then.”

As soon as I saw the slowly travelling humans, I realized Lionheart’s conclusions were correct. Wrapped in pelts, the humans were clearly not out on a hunt. Maybe they would be going to hunt, but later. When they got closer to their destination. So they wouldn’t have to carry their quarry too far.

Two of them were behaving strangely. They stopped and stared toward the wasteland that had once been Pinevale. I couldn’t see their faces due to the tightly wrapped scarves, but the fact they were sad was apparent based on the heavy sighs and head shaking. I was probably now seeing former natives of Pinevale, or whatever it was called so many years later. Descendants of my friends and former cohorts. That realization made my heart sting.

The two men stood like that for a little while, nodded silently to one another and started off to catch the others. I was moving among the trees a few steps away from them, listening closely but, alas, the men didn’t let slip a single word. The scant gestures they used to communicate excepted. Too little information.

Oh well, there was no point in continuing to put off the conversation.

Emerging from the forest, I stopped on the trail the scouts were blazing through the snow and shouted out loudly at their backs:

“Hey there! Gentlemen! Could you possibly lend me a minute of your precious time?!”

I was speaking Mink’s language, not especially hopeful they would understand. All I needed was to hear a response, then the Great System would give me a choice.

The scouts’ reaction didn’t surprise me. The forerunners barked a soft command and all the fighters fanned out. And a second later, arrows were flying. Despite the fact that we were around a hundred feet apart, their projectiles were very slow moving. I was no longer used to such speeds.

Nimbly dodging a dozen arrows, I grabbed one easily with my right hand and, twirling it in my fingers while the bowmen looked on stunned, I asked:

“Can we just talk?”

I could tell the archers could understand me. They even exchanged puzzled looks. But they didn’t lower their bows. They were ready to keep up the attack. And before they could, I activated Fiery Paw.

The arrow in my hand lit up bright and fell to ash.

“I wish you no harm,” I used my will to apply a bit of pressure. “I just want to talk.”

The scouts all shuddered and took a step back. All of a sudden, one of the men, first to get a handle on his fear, pushed aside his neighbor who was clearly standing to block him, and stepped forward. For the record, they were the two who had stopped to stare at the “ruins” of Pinevale.

Taking a few steps forward, the stunned scout said:

“Eric? Is that you?”

His voice sent shivers running down my spine. I recognized it…

Throwing back his hood and pulling off the scarf, the man gave a big smile and shouted out joyfully:

“You came back! You really came back!”

When I saw his windswept frostbitten face, I felt tears of joy welling up in my eyes. The excitement made my heart nearly jump out of my chest. Who would have ever thought I would have the fortune to see his insolent mug again?

“Yes, Bream, I came back!”

Epilogue

Mink was standing atop a cliff and peering into the distance. Down in the valley, at the foot of White Ridge stretched the huge northern camp. Hundreds of tents, hundreds of bonfires. So, they had decided to come out on a raid. But Eric warned Hedgehog about that. He said that sooner or later, Northolm would recover from its defeat and return to exact revenge.

Thinking back on the Departed One, which was what the people had started calling him, she closed her eyes and squeezed out a heavy sigh. This is no time to wallow. Getting a tighter grip on her father’s bow, Mink trained her gaze on the enemy camp once again.

Two winters had passed since Eric left their world. A third had already begun, but he still had yet to return. She did not want to consider the worst, though she realized that Eric had to fight very powerful enemies in his world. Every night, Mink lit the family candle and prayed to the ancestral spirits to guide and keep her beloved.

A sad smile unwittingly appeared on her face. Only now, several years later, had she realized how much she loved him. And day by day, the feeling only grew stronger.

Mink often thought back on their first meeting and the fear she experienced when she realized what Eric truly was. At first, he was like a character from a fairy tale or fable. A great warrior, a mighty mage. Dangerous and merciless to his enemies. But willing to fight to the death for his friends and family. Unlike the others, she never stopped believing he would return even for a second. Even Badger, who Eric had dragged out of so many sticky situations had lost hope. And that’s saying nothing about his enemies.

For the first year, everything was fine. Great, in fact. Pinevale was rebuilt at quite a clip. With the guiding hand of Hedgehog, who never forgot to mention his friendship with the Departed One, who took down all the dark beasts practically on his own after they had caused so much fear, people came flooding in from all directions.

But one fine day, everything changed. Pinevale, which was gradually becoming a small city, suffered an attack by possessed creatures. The large pack of flying monsters fell upon them at night. The ghastly beasts reaped a large harvest. Nearly a quarter of Pinevale’s population was ripped to shreds in a matter of hours. The same amount died the following day.

The men trying to defend the city either died or took heavy wounds. Very soon, everyone realized that common human weaponry was unable to harm the possessed. By day three, the people had to leave the city because the creatures were clearly not going anywhere.

Mink sighed heavily and closed her eyes for a moment. Tears left trails of moisture down her cheeks. People try not to think about those times without good reason. Too many people died. And on the way to the mountains, there were also many losses.

Once, her own comrades made an attempt on her and her brother’s lives. A few of the men had gone mad with grief and, instigated by their wives, laid the blame for the monster attack on Mink and her brother. Because the head of the flying possessed creature had been brought to the chief by the Departed One and Badger. There was talk that the possessed had come to seek vengeance for their fallen brother.

If not for Hedgehog, it all would have ended in blood. He reacted harshly, cruelly even. The rowdies and their families were expelled from the tribe.

Life in the mountains was much harsher than in the valley, but the people stuck it out and gradually got settled. And then, life slowly started to calm down. Until news came that the northerners were going on a big raid destined for their new settlement in the mountains.

Within half a year, after they’d subjugated all the tribes living along the river, the northerners entered the valley. And now they had been there a whole month plundering settlements. But an early snowfall had stopped their march into the mountains.

Hedgehog genuinely tried to make an arrangement with the northern chiefs, but they just killed the peace envoys and sent their heads to the foot of the mountain. They also left messages saying that if they gave up the Departed One’s woman, the tribe would not suffer.

At first, Mink and Badger were very scared, but Hedgehog dispelled their doubts at the tribal assembly. He just asked the people to imagine what would happen when the Departed One returned and found out about his bride’s fate. All of them would have hell to pay. People had apparently changed their minds, but she was hearing more and more fragmentary whispered conversations about whether the Departed One would ever truly return.

On Hedgehog’s advice, Mink was now almost constantly on lookout duty outside the settlement. As he put it, “the less they see you, the less temptation.” That did not mean only the chief supported her though. There were also other families willing to intercede on her behalf. But with every passing hour, the northern advance drew closer, and Mink could sense dark clouds gathering over her head. Her brother had even suggested she prepare to flee. He even tried to convince her to leave with Roach’s group, which was going to look for reinforcements among the western clans. And then, on the way, either run or stay in the west. But she refused. Mink’s mind was made up. If needed, she was willing to sacrifice herself to save the others’ lives.

Shivering in a gust of icy wind, Mink got a better grip on the bow and was about to go take shelter in the cave she had set up as a cozy little den. There, she had a small fire waiting and a hot beverage flavored with dried berries. But a strange commotion in the northern camp drew her attention.

“Have they really decided to move out right now?” she whispered, straining painfully to look into the distance.

Meanwhile, the camp in the valley looked like a batted beehive. The warriors, hurriedly arming themselves, darted between the tents and bonfires. The war horn of Northolm sounded out several times. The northerners were truly preparing for an attack!

Without another second’s hesitation, Mink ran down. She had to warn everyone!

Based on the commotion in the settlement, everyone already knew about the movement in the northern camp. Hedgehog, shouting commands loudly, stationed fighters up on the walls. Upon seeing Mink, he waved for her to come over.

“You go down into the valley with Lynx’s party,” he said. “Hurry up, they’re already outside the walls!”

Mink nodded and, grabbing another full quiver, ran through the closing gates.

She caught up to the old huntress and her three sons when they were nearly at the foot of the ridge. When Yellow Lynx saw her, she gave a wry smile and winked. Once upon a time, she had led her entire tribe to Pinevale. But the way it worked out, almost all of them died in the possessed incursion. Including her oldest son, his wife and her little grandson. But nonetheless, Lynx always defended Mink at every tribal assembly.

She had guessed at Hedgehog’s designs. If Lynx ordered her to run, Mink would be unable to resist.

“Chin up, girl!” the old woman said with a smile, patting Mink on the shoulder. “The gods must have heard us, and the fools decided to press into the mountains right now. Ha-ha! They’re in for a warm welcome!”

Mink nodded and smiled. She wanted to tell the old woman that she was willing to repay her debt to the tribe, but stopped herself… The whole party had turned to watch the northern camp down on the plain.

“Oh, gods…” Yellow Lynx rasped out, stunned and pointing her shaking hand down. “What is that?”

Mink struggled to gulp down the lump in her throat and gave no response. What was happening down there defied explanation.

Directly opposite the northern camp, blocking the whole path into the mountains, ten-foot-tall monsters started appearing out of thin air. Dozens, hundreds… Most of all, they resembled spiders.

The mysterious creatures then got into formation and stood stock still, frozen like statues. Their armor glimmered rapaciously in the rays of the winter sun.

But that was not all. On the other side of the camp, cutting off a potential northern retreat, there loomed two blood-curdling giant snakes as big as boulders.

Everything happening looked so unreal and ghastly at the same time that Mink felt like a helpless little grain of sand in a hurricane of events.

One look and it was obvious – the northerners were doomed.

“What is that?” Lynx repeated, her voice shaky and turning to look at the frozen Mink. “Have we angered the gods? And now they have sent down their legions to visit punishment upon us?”

Unlike the old woman, Mink was less categorical. There was one key detail Lynx had missed.

“If those really are divine legions,” she whispered back. “Then it seems they have come only to visit punishment upon the northerners.”

But before the old woman could answer, the snow behind them crunched softly, then Mink heard a familiar sound that made shivers run over her whole body.

“Hrn!”

She turned quickly to meet eyes with the man she’d been waiting to see for so long. Eric was standing next to Gorgie and smiling bashfully. For a short time, she went catatonic. All the words she had prepared for the encounter flew out of her head. It was all just such a surprise.

He had changed a lot over the years. His eyes. His body. It was as if he had lived much longer than two years. He carried himself with an air of confidence and power.

“Sorry,” he came, giving a shrug. “I took a bit longer than intended… But with the gods as my witnesses, you were always with me.”

After saying that, he showed her the talisman she had given him as a parting gift. The lump in her throat again prevented her from speaking. Because the thing that always happened to her at times like that was happening again. The tears welled up in her eyes all on their own.

His face stretched into a smile and, a moment later, she was in his tight embrace. Pressing her cheek up to his chest, she gave a sob and came quietly:

“The gods heard my prayers. You are alive, and now we will be together forever…”

His hand came down on her head, and she heard him say reassuringly and confidently:

“Yes, now we will be together forever.”

From the author:

Dear readers!

Above all, I want to thank you for your support, and for your interest in my modest body of work!

The Underdog series may be finished, but Eric’s adventures are far from over. I don’t know exactly when just yet, but I’m sure I’ll come back to the World of the Great System. Most likely, the next series about Eric’s adventures will be called Knights of the Rift.

Thank you all once again for going on this journey with me.

And well, now, I think I’ll have myself a nice little drink.

Sincerely,

Alexey Osadchuk

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by Kaitlyn Weiss

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About the Author

Alexey Osadchuk was born in 1979 in Ukraine. In the late 1990s his family moved to the south of Spain where they still live today.

Alexey was an avid reader from an early age, devouring adventure novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jack London and Arthur Conan Doyle. In 2010 he wrote his first fantasy novel which was immediately accepted for publication.

He also used to be a passionate online gamer which prompted him to write the story of a man who joins an MMORPG game hoping to raise money for his daughter’s heart surgery. The first book of Mirror World was published In 2013. The English translation of the series is now available on Amazon in its entirety, prompting a reviewer to call Alexey “one of the best LitRPG authors to date”.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

About the Author