Nightmare Realm Summoner: A LitRPG Adventure, page 70
Even though Mirian’s face was concealed by her helm, her feet scuffed across the ground as she moved a step back. She was definitely worried.
“I’m not scared of someone like you,” Mirian spat. She glanced down at her feet, then took a step forward as if to prove her own words to herself. “Cheap tricks aren’t going to win anything for you.”
A part of Alex wondered how correct Mirian was. He couldn’t sense Absolution’s energy in the same way that he’d felt Zeal’s. He was definitely weaker than the old man—but he also couldn’t sense Mirian, so she wasn’t anywhere near his level either.
“Enough chatter,” Drake called. “End him, Mirian. We don’t need any theater on this one. Nobody here wants to see Absolution take any more breaths than he has to. Put the Crestless bastard down.”
Mirian charged forward with a roar. Her heavy footfalls rang against the ground like thunderous applause, each one striking the stage with enough force to shake it. She reared back and swung the massive hammer in her hands at Absolution’s head, aiming to kill him on the spot.
The gray-skinned man vanished, and the hammer passed through the air where he’d been standing harmlessly. He reformed a few feet to the side. His scythe hooked out for Mirian’s arm and rang off her armor with a melodious clang.
She let out a furious snarl and spun with the force of her previous blow, twisting in a full circle. The end of her hammer ignited in molten flame, and it crashed back down for Absolution like a meteor. This strike moved with easily two times the speed of the last one.
Once more, Absolution blinked out of the way. His scythe shot out and connected with Mirian’s armor a second time, and a second time it did nothing but ring harmlessly.
Mirian swung her hammer a third time. She hadn’t lost so much as an iota of momentum from the previous two attacks, and her speed had progressed to the point where Alex could barely even follow her movements.
She swung the hammer again and again. Every strike came faster than the last—if they could even be considered different attacks. It was more like one flowing attack that would have no end until her hammer connected with Absolution.
Tongues of flame danced through the air as they were caught into a hurricane, twisting around Mirian’s entire body and casting their golden-orange light across the stage. She wasn’t even leaving a second for Absolution to get a real counter-attack in. All he could do was dodge.
She’s got him on the back foot. I don’t know what their ranks are, but it really looks like Absolution is at a pretty big disadvantage here. How is he supposed to get us a way to Orchid if he can’t get a moment to fight back against Mirian?
“Ten Credits on Mirian crushing the Crestless idiot’s skull like a grape,” a man in the crowd called.
“I’ll take you up on that,” a woman replied. “Absolution has been a thorn for years. If some worthless half-core could kill him, then they already would have. Do you have any idea how many people the Firesong family has lost against him, much less the other families?”
“I’ll raise that bet to 20 Credits. He’s more restricted now than ever,” another woman’s voice joined the argument. “Absolution is getting arrogant. He thinks he can play by the rules he likes and skirt the ones he doesn’t. Drake doesn’t train slouches. He’s done for.”
“Taken,” a second man called. “I’m looking forward to getting your money.”
A dozen other voices rose up into the air, calling out bids of their own.
“Fifty Credits on Absolution defeating Mirian!” Alex called, trying to disguise just how stiff his body was as he watched the gray-skinned man narrowly dodge yet another molten strike. It really did look like Mirian had him down to rights.
“You’re on,” a large, barrel-chested man said with a booming laugh.
Claire shot Alex a look.
“What?” Alex whispered. “It’s not like we’ll be paying them back anyway.”
An explosive crash roared through the room as Mirian’s hammer finally collided with something. Everyone spun back to the stage as a geyser of flame erupted from the ground where her hammer had struck.
Fragments of stone and melted rock flew up all around her. A dim blue dome flickered to life around the stage as the pieces flew free. They struck the dome’s surface and froze in place, sending ripples across the energy making up its surface. The debris clattered down all around Mirian like rain.
“There,” Mirian said, pulling her hammer free from the ground without so much as a grunt of effort. “Good riddance.”
Everyone stared at her.
Not because of the cocky words, but because Absolution was standing directly behind her, leaning on his scythe.
“What are you talking about?” Drake asked. “You missed, you daft woman.”
“What? No, I didn’t,” Mirian said. She craned her neck back to look up at the buzzing dome above her. “Put this thing down. The Challenge is over. Absolution is dead. His body is right here. Little burnt and squashed up, but it’s here.”
She nudged an empty spot on the ground with her foot.
Alex’s skin prickled. Even though he was temporarily allied with Absolution, something felt deeply wrong. Anticipation and unease built in his chest like the tide receding in preparation of a tidal wave.
What kind of magic does Absolution have?
“He’s behind you!” Drake roared. “Turn around!”
Mirian glanced over her shoulder, then back to Drake. “Are you rocked in the head? There’s nothing there.”
Absolution smiled. He tapped his scythe against the ground. Coils of black energy gathered around Mirian. Lines as dark as the night materialized all over her armor. They burned with power, connecting to form a complex pattern that definitely would have had a meaning if Alex could understand it.
Mirian didn’t seem to notice the lines. She turned back and forth, alternating between squinting up at the dome and looking around herself.
“Why won’t anyone let me out of here?” Mirian demanded. “The fight is over! Are you all insane?”
“He’s right there!” Drake roared, thrusting a finger to point behind Mirian as Absolution walked up behind her.
Mirian spun. Her eyes focused right on the spot where Absolution stood—and went right past him. She couldn’t see him at all.
“It’s pointless,” Absolution said. “I have already carved the scripture across her. Such is the drawback of so much armor. It is impossible to determine when you have been scratched by the tip of a passing weapon.”
He managed to draw that complex thing with his Scythe while Mirian was trying to smash his brains out? There’s no way.
“Release your Manifestation!” Drake roared. “Now!”
“Too late,” Absolution said. The gills on his neck flared, and the dark smoke pouring off Mirian streamed into them. He drew in a deep breath, then let out a shuddering sigh. “The lamb has already been led to slaughter.”
Man, Absolution really likes his slightly edgy and ominous one-liners, doesn’t he?
Absolution’s eyes shifted to Alex for the briefest of instants. For a moment, Alex thought the man had somehow heard his thoughts. Then he realized that there was a message in the gaze. It was a warning.
It’s time. He’s going to do something to let us get to Orchid.
Alex and Claire both quietly exchanged a nod and readied themselves. They had no idea what Absolution was up to, so the best they could do was to be prepared to take advantage of it before anyone else could.
Drake opened his mouth to yell something else, but Absolution was already moving.
His scythe flicked up in what could almost have been described as a lazy arc. It slammed into Mirian’s back, just like a dozen strikes before it had, but this one was different. Instead of ringing off the armor, it carried right on.
That wasn’t to say the armor was pierced. Absolution hadn’t cut it at all. His scythe had passed right through the metal as if nothing was there, leaving it whole as it found its true target and lodged directly in Mirian’s heart.
“The sacrificial blade always finds the heart of the lamb,” Absolution whispered, his words cutting across the suddenly silent room. “Once death has set its sights on the sacrifice, nothing can stand in its path. Let that be a reminder to you all. Fat pigs with your mouths stuffed full of slop. May you all bathe in the rot.”
Then he ripped his scythe free.
A gout of blood followed in its wake. Mirian collapsed, plummeting to the ground as her body shrank, returning to its normal size. Alex didn’t even need to check to tell that the woman was dead—but it didn’t seem like Absolution was done.
Before she’d even landed, Absolution thrust a palm forward. Black poured from between his lips and sank into Mirian’s body. Her flesh and armor bubbled, then warped. Two pillars rose up from her, formed of a conglomeration of flesh and metal.
Black energy snapped into life between them, and a spinning portal yawned open. Absolution staggered, leaning heavily on his staff as a wave of exhaustion seemed to slam into him.
God, that’s disgusting.
The glistening blue dome around the stage collapsed. The fight was officially over.
Claire and Alex exploded into motion. It wasn’t hard to tell what Absolution’s way out for them was. Alex had absolutely no idea how the gray-skinned man planned to survive the rest of the Outworlders, but that was his problem.
Surprised yells rang out all around him as he shoved through the crowd.
“Don’t let them get past you!” Drake yelled as they burst free and ran for the portal. “They’re working with Absolution!”
But they were already on the stage by the time the words left his lips.
Outworlders surged forward, but they were too late to do anything but watch Alex and Claire clasp hands and fling themselves into the portal.
“Follow them!” Leah yelled.
An instant later, all the sound from the Assembly was swallowed by the darkness.
Alex hurtled through the void toward—presumably—where Orchid was held. He just hoped that Drake didn’t have any way to warn his people that they were coming. They weren’t going to have much time to act. The other Outworlders were going to be right on their asses. They’d have to grab Orchid and escape to the Mirrorlands as quickly as possible.
Then the world was gone, and there was no more time for thought.
99
Solid ground materialized beneath Alex in a bloom of gray.
Stone. A cave of some sort, strewn with looming shadows crawling across rubble cast by orange torchlight.
His stomach lurched up into his throat even as he hit the ground in a roll and thrust himself up to his feet.
Claire rose beside him. They stood in a small room, across from two stunned men decked out in silvered armor. Behind them was a passageway with sunlight spilling in—they weren’t far from the surface.
Neither of them wore bands to conceal their identities. Golden letters had already spawned in the air above them to identify their names and classes.
Shale - Weaponmeister (Initiate 4)
Winky - Shadowblade (Initiate 4)
Oh, come on. I think the System felt like I was challenging it a bit too much by actively looking for more difficult fights. Two Initiate 4 Outworlders. This isn’t the same thing as fighting a monster of the same stage. These guys are going to be a problem when we only have a few damn moments to fight before the rest of the Outworlders show up at our asses.
Then again, I suppose I should be a bit relieved. As far as Outworlders go, Initiate 4 doesn’t seem too bad. We have a good chance. We’d have a great one if we weren’t about to get run down by a horde of pissed-off pay-to-win assholes, but I’ll take what I get.
Behind the men was Orchid. Absolution had actually managed to pull it off. He’d gotten them a way out from under all the Outworlders noses—literally. They just had to find a way to snatch Orchid and run off with her before their pursuers caught up with them in a few seconds.
Unfortunately, Orchid wasn’t in good shape. Bruises covered her arms, and she hung suspended from the ceiling like a furious piñata. Someone had gagged her with a dirty cloth.
A thick chain wrapped around her bruised wrists and connected to a stone in the ceiling. The chain continued along the rest of her body, binding her entire form like a constricting snake. Shimmers of faint blue energy twisted through the links of the chain.
Orchid swung and struggled fruitlessly, trying to reach the wooden staff that leaned against the wall a few feet to her side. Her injuries clearly hadn’t made it to her spirit, but the motions weren’t doing much more than providing the armored men guarding her with amusement and the slightest of distractions—at least, right up until Alex and Claire arrived.
Then that distraction bought the two of them the half-second they needed to finish rising to their feet. It gave Alex the moment he needed to call out to his monsters.
Shale, a wiry man with several swords strapped to his sides and a tuft of hair at the very top of an otherwise bald head, was still midway through cursing in surprise when the sound of shattering glass filled the air.
Glint flashed forward in a blur, the cloak already transforming into a segmented whip. It carved through the air for Shale’s neck. There was a flash of gray, and a loud, ringing clang echoed through the air.
Torchlight reflected off Glint’s gaunt body as his whip retracted and returned to the form of a cloak at his side.
Several swords had slid free of the sheaths at Shale’s sides and floated around the man as if held by invisible warriors. The brief moment of surprise had worn off quickly, and both of the guards were clearly professionals.
Winky, the larger of the two guards, drew a longsword that he had strapped to his back. “Who are you?”
“Forget speaking, just kill them,” Shale snapped. “They’re intruders.”
The swords around him flitted forward. They moved in a formation to strike from four different angles at once, blurring until they were nothing but gray streaks slicing through the air. It was an attack that almost certainly would have drawn blood from Alex if the two men hadn’t paused to speak.
But they had paused to speak—and that had given the rest of his summons a moment to finish pulling themselves free from his Soul Mirrors.
A black puddle welled up on the ground before Alex before exploding outward in a spray of sludge. Princess erupted from the ground and expanded her body, the squirming arms extending from her back wrapping around Alex and Claire.
The swords slammed into her body, burying themselves deep into her with loud squelching thuds. One of them jerked to a halt just an inch away from Alex’s face, but none grew close enough to cut them.
Winky’s sword shimmered. Then it vanished. He dashed around Princess, ducking under one of her large arms as she swept her hand at him, and lunged for Alex.
Spark erupted into existence with a crackle and a flash. The Echo Wraith drove into the man’s side, and they both tumbled across the ground with a slew of curses and crackling arcs of electric energy.
Winky grabbed Spark and hurled the monster across the room with a roar. Spark sailed through the air and slammed into the stone wall with a loud crunch. The floating armor plates around his blue core shuddered.
The Echo Wraith floated down to the ground, shaking himself off and refocusing on Winky as the man rose.
“Fucking summoners,” Shale snarled, flicking a hand back like a conductor. The swords ripped out of Princess’s body. “I’ve killed one of the adds. Finish that one off, then—”
Princess lunged toward Shale. The thin man’s eyes went wide, and he hurled himself out of the way, hitting the ground in a roll and springing to safety just an instant before Princess’s hand slammed down on the ground where he’d been standing.
“Go!” Alex hissed to Claire. “I’ll distract them! We need to get Orchid and find a portal to the Mirrorlands!”
“What the fuck? The blob is still alive?” Shale thrust a finger toward Alex. The floating swords shot toward him again, spinning together like a drill.
Princess lunged in front of the attack, and Alex drew on his own magic, casting Funhouse in the air between himself and his Dredge. Reality cracked, and white cracks raced out as fragments of the world crumbled in on themselves.
Shale’s swords pierced clean through Princess’s body and continued on into the path of the spell. They warped and twisted before being spat out straight into the ground, where they drove home with four loud thunks.
“The girl is going for the prisoner!” Winky yelled, twisting away from Alex and rearing back. He made a motion as if he were hurling something—and Alex was pretty damn sure it was the invisible sword that was still in the man’s hand.
“Duck!” Alex yelled.
Claire threw herself into a roll.
There was a thud in the stone behind her. She shot back to her feet and arrived at Orchid’s side, black veins streaking down her arm even as she grabbed the chains holding the other woman.
She let out a roar and gave them a sharp yank. The chains strained, but they didn’t break. Glint arrived beside her and reared back, his deadly claws glistening in the firelight.
“I don’t think so!” Shale’s swords yanked themselves free of the ground. They shimmered, and shadows of the weapons appeared beside them, turning four to eight. Then they all shot forward.
Spark thrust himself forward into the path of the blades. They drove into him, reaving through his armored body but failing to penetrate out the back.
He exploded with a flash, transforming into energy.
Glint’s hand carved down.
Orchid dropped. Claire caught her and spun, sprinting for the exit of the cave.
“Stop!” Shale yelled as his swords shot back to fly at his sides, and he made to give chase.
“Fuck you!” Alex yelled back, falling in alongside Claire and running for the exit. A portal still crackled in the air where they’d arrived—it didn’t look like Absolution had managed to close it, and there was something trying to come through. “Glint, Princess, distract them as long as you can!”
