How could someone play a character like this? How could they take pleasure in killing other players, and inflicting pain and suffering on them?
I had to find out.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked.
The assassin said nothing. That grin never left his face. On James, a constant grin was almost endearing. Almost. On this assassin, it was terrifying.
"We're players. Just like you," I said. "This game? Crematoria Online? It's a trap. Once you log in, you're stuck here. Surely you've heard the rumors that people aren't respawning when they die, right?"
The assassin sucked in a breath through his teeth, as though this knowledge hurt him in some way. I thought for a moment that I may have diffused the situation, but then he started laughing.
"You think I don't know that?" The assassin asked. "I chose this. Hunting you idiots is so much more fun than hunting down the non-player characters. They're predictable. There's no sport in it. But hunting real people? That's something I could only dream of doing in the real world. You people paid for the honor of being my victims!"
The assassin's admission shocked me to stunned silence. Was he really a vampire? How had he gained such powerful abilities so early in the game?
The assassin shifted backwards. He might have been re-distributing his weight in order to launch an attack towards me, or perhaps to inch backwards towards the symbol. Whoever this maniac was, he clearly wouldn't have any issues with cutting me down right here in the Trash Palace. He had no fear of the Rat King's retribution.
I didn't dignify what he had said with a response. Instead, I launched forward, surging towards him with my Acid-etched Sword. Daggers were a danger when you didn't see them coming, but it would have been difficult to defend with them against the range and ferocity of a sword. At least that's what I thought until I engaged him in close quarters. Somehow the assassin seemed to be able to dance out of the way of every strike I threw at him. He didn't launch a true counter-attack at me at all. He simply danced this way and that, dodging, ducking, and weaving away from my strikes. He must have invested a bunch of points in Dexterity and leveled up his Dodge skill.
Even though I couldn't use my Expose Weakness ability on him as a player character, I had a pretty good idea of where the weak spots might be.
I swung my sword laterally across the hallway in front of me, causing the assassin to duck to escape. He did, and I lifted a knee straight into his masked face.
There was a sharp crack as my knee connected. I didn't know whether it was the mask that had cracked, or his nose beneath. Maybe both. Maybe even a couple of teeth. Whatever had broken caused the assassin to wheel back and fall into a defensive posture.
I grinned at the crack that ran up the left cheek towards the eye. I saw an eye with an olive iris looking back at me, no longer shrouded by the darkness of the mask.
"You're a monster," I said. "How can you live with yourself? How can you kill another person and take joy in it?"
"You have no idea what's in store for this world. If you knew, you do the same thing." The assassin didn't look nearly as worried as I thought he should. I had them at my mercy.
Then I realized something. As we were fighting, the assassin had been systematically dodging backwards as I advanced forwards. He wasn't really trying to hurt me at all! He was just trying to get close enough to the symbol so he could escape. He was now only a couple of meters away from the mark at the end of the hallway.
"Tell me one thing, tell me where the boy is!" I shouted. "John Byrne. Where is he? What have you done with him?"
"I told you, I have no idea who you're talking about. I don't know about any boy. But that's not to say that one of my brothers or sisters didn't take him to meet Andestra, our Queen. She's building an army, and once people see the power that she can bestow, they'll come to us. The Crimson Order grows with every passing day!"
The assassin surged backward, away from me, towards the symbol.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Through the Blood Portal
As he surged back the assassin drew one of his daggers across the palm of his hand. He reached out towards the symbol.
There was no way I was going to reach him in time.
Suddenly Ellie's hammer came flying past me, hurtling towards the assassin. The hammer cracked him in the back and sent him sprawling forward. The assassin caught himself against the wall. His blood-covered hand touched the crimson sigil. The sigil of the Crimson Order blazed like it was on fire. The lines woke. they crackled and burned at his touch.
The wall shimmered and folded in on itself, revealing a portal to a nightmare realm. The walls beyond the portal were rust-colored. Torches were lit beneath chained bodies in various states of decomposition that were hung from sheer walls. The sound of running water came from somewhere beyond the threshold. The assassin crossed the threshold and gave one last look back towards us as the portal began to close.
"No! We can't let him get away!" Ellie surged forward. Her gait was uneasy. The attack had taken quite a toll on her, but there would be no stopping her.
I ran faster and caught up to her. The portal was closing fast, and we needed to book it if we wanted to make it through before it closed.
The assassin disappeared beyond the boundary of the portal. It seemed like he was satisfied that we wouldn't make it in time, but Ellie had other ideas. She bellowed, and I thought she used her Courageous Shout ability, but it wasn't a damage boost that we gained. It was a movement speed boost!
The buff icon at the top right of my view confirmed it. It was an image of a running foot, and when I focused on it, it showed a message.
Motivating Shout
Increases movement speed by 20% for 30 seconds.
I used the buff to close the distance. The portal was still a good couple of feet wide when were within distance of it. We wouldn't be able to walk through it as the assassin had, but we had other options.
I leapt off the ground, diving through the shrinking portal. The edifices of the Trash Palace disappeared as I passed through into a realm of otherworldly horror. I hit the soft ground hard and rolled. Behind me, Ellie hit the ground too, but she stuck the landing. She looked like some kind of armored superhero, shield in one hand, hammer in the other, with grim determination written across her face. She was still pale, but the bite on her neck had stopped bleeding. The blood had begun to coagulate in the shape of the sigil of the Crimson Order.
It struck me as very strange that a human mouth could make that kind of a wound. If it was indeed a set of jaws, it didn't belong to a human. What manner of unholy affliction was the other player suffering from? What was hidden behind his lips?
A message appeared at the bottom of my view.
New area discovered: Sanguinaria Outskirts
"Did you get that notification too?" I asked.
"Sanguinaria. Yeah. That must be the name of this place. Lucky we didn't end up in a portal that opened right in the center of it," Ellie said.
"I'll take any favor I can get right now," I said.
The assassin was gone, but it became clear that he hadn't been alone. A group of four crimson-clad warriors came striding towards us. I was still wearing my boxers and tattered shirt, so I opened my inventory quickly and equipped all of my Stylish Detective's Garb. Ellie saw me, and she did the same. But she equipped her Judiciary set again. No more boob armor!
The Crimson Order squad in front of us was made up of two men and two women. They all wore similar red leather coats, all emblazoned with the sigil of the Crimson Order. Each of the approaching band had red-rimmed eyes, and the lower halves of their faces were smeared with blood. There was a man sprawled on the ground behind them, covered in similar wounds to the one on Ellie's neck. His skin had a papery quality to it, as though the moisture had been sucked out of his body. His face was sunken, and his dried eyeballs sat in his eye sockets like shriveled raisins.
"Who's this, then?" the blond woman in the group asked.
; "You've certainly wandered far from home," said a man with a shaved head.
"It's not often that dinner comes to us," said a reedy looking man with fresh blood still dribbling from his lips. Was it his? It looked like it was coming from inside of him.
A woman stood next to him with black facial tattoos that seemed to shimmer. Did the light dance on them from the lit torches around the chamber? Or were they tattoos of power, like the ones James had covering his arms?
Ellie and I got to our feet and immediately readied ourselves for a fight. It was two against four, and we didn't have James to back us up any more. He'd gone back to Eldin on other business. I sheathed my Acid-etched Sword and drew my flintlock pistol. I retrieved a paper cartridge from my ammo pouch and loaded the weapon. If I could take one of these goons down quickly, that would level the playing field quite a bit. The firearm practice I had done in Dregswyk was going to be put to the test.
"The only thing you're going to eat is my hammer!" Ellie shouted.
I felt my body suffused with power. The Courageous Shout buff appeared at the top-right corner of my view, and the fight was on.
"Ooh, she's feisty! I'd like a taste of her," the bald man said.
"You wouldn't be the first. Look at her neck," the woman with the face tattoos said.
"I don't mind some sloppy seconds," the bald man grinned. "What's the matter with you, darling? Do you taste like garbage?"
Ellie let her hammer do the talking. She hurled it straight towards the bald man, and it smashed him right in the bottom jaw as he was laughing. His jaw snapped with the loud crack, hanging limply to one side. Blood flowed freely from the wound. The others licked their lips hungrily at the freshly spilled blood.
He mumbled something indiscernible before rushing us. He had no weapon but his fists and his size. The rest of the group attacked as one.
The bald one made a sound like he was going to throw up as he got close. Was he sick?
Something erupted out of his mouth, but it wasn't vomit. A long black snake-like shape shot out of his mouth and lashed right towards Ellie. His eyes bulged in their sockets from the pressure. It was like it was seeking her out! She managed to raise her shield in time to block the strange appendage. It hit her shield with a sound like rock hitting steel, and then reared back like a cobra.
That's when I saw the jaws.
Six sharp fangs wreathing a circular gullet. Whatever this thing was, it was living inside the bald man. Some kind of parasite!
The woman with the face tattoos and the lanky man made similar vomitorious sounds as their parasites emerged to join the fight. The lanky man held a staff in his hands, and the woman with the face tattoos held her fists up, ready to brawl.
She had tattoos all over her fingers and the back of her hands. They were sparkling with blue light. I could see that now.
Damn.
Arcane tattoos were going to make this even harder than it already was.
The lanky man lowered himself into fighting stance. The parasite waved back and forth above him like a charmed snake. Its fangs chewed the air and a long tongue slithered out of its center. It was tipped with what looked like a needle. This thing was a bloodsucker!
The woman's tattoos crackled audibly as she took a step forward. I needed to neutralize her, but I wasn't sure if that would be possible. I had no idea what kind of powers she had. What if she was bulletproof?
I homed in on the lanky man instead. I would be able to finish him off quickly, then move on to the tattooed woman. I cast my Expose Weakness ability and got a bit of information about him.
Crimson Order Initiate
Level 9
Newly recruited initiates of the Crimson Order are tasked with the more menial tasks. Disposing of bodies, finding new food sources, and cleaning out the living quarters. They have only recently been infected by the Sanguine Scourge. Their parasites are still growing.
Their weak spots were obvious. The waving parasite was highlighted in a white aura, and so was the Initiate's human head. The parasite's body looked squishy, so maybe severing it would be the best strategy. I lifted my flintlock and aimed it squarely at the lanky man's head. I took a breath, waited for him to come in range, then squeezed down on the trigger.
One side of the lanky Initiate's head exploded like an overripe melon, but that wasn't enough to stop him. His body doubled over and convulsed. The parasite whipped through the air with its needle-tongue flicking around, looking for flesh to sink into. The woman with the face tattoos was behind me.
I had been so distracted that I let myself get surrounded.
Stupid!
Ellie was fighting her own battle against the brute and the blond. They had divided our party easily, and I hadn't even realized they were doing it. Together we were strong, but torn apart, we were weaker. We needed to even the odds and regroup.
Fast!
"Aim for the parasites!" I called out. "That's where they're weakest!"
"They're also our greatest weapon!" the tattooed Initiate said from behind me.
Suddenly her tattooed arms were around me, pinning my arms to my sides. I saw the tattoos up close, and my blood ran cold. There were sparks rising from the surface of the black ink like static electricity, but sometimes arcing from one black line to another. One of the arcing sparks flashed up towards my neck, and a searing hot pain bloomed as it hit me.
I struggled against the tattooed Initiate's grip, but they held strong. The other lanky man walked towards me, parasite arced up above his head, ready to strike like some kind of demented scorpion's tail. The needle-like tip at the end of its tongue glistened in the torchlight.
Then it struck forward. It slammed into the side of my neck. A surge of adrenaline rushed through my body as it hit me, but there was remarkably little pain. At least not right away. Not until the six fangs sunk into the flesh of my neck. I roared at the sudden pinched agony and thrashed against the tattooed Initiate's grip.
My health bar was draining fast. It was already hovering around 60%! If I didn't find a way out of this fast, I was a goner.
My sword was useless, but my flintlock wasn't. I couldn't get a critical one-hit kill with how she was holding me, but I might be able to hurt her enough to make her release me.
I aimed my flintlock backwards and felt it press up against something with a little give. It had to be a part of her body. I pulled the trigger. The tattooed Initiate's arms snapped open. She screamed right in my ear. Even though I was almost deaf on one side now, I was suddenly free!
I pushed back with all my body weight to knock her further off balance. She toppled behind me, but the parasite attached to my neck was holding tightly enough to me that I kept my balance! The parasite was extended far enough that I could take a step backwards, just enough to raise my sword in front of me. My health bar was still draining rapidly. It was down to 40% now, and the Crimson Initiate was marked with a symbol above its head. Concentrating on it for a second showed me some information about the buff.
Blood Frenzy
The Crimson Initiate has recently fed and has been affected by Blood Frenzy. Increased health regeneration. Focused on feeding.
Perfect. It would be so focused on feeding that it wouldn't notice the sword I had ready to skewer it with. I took another step back, and the Crimson Initiate stepped forward, right into the tip of my Acid-etched Sword. It sunk deep into the Initiate's side. Almost instantaneously, the parasite's jaws sprung open and withdrew, slurping back into the lanky Initiate's mouth like the power cord on a vacuum cleaner when you pressed the cord return button. The lanky Initiate's eyes bugged out, dripping with viscous red tears that ran down their cheeks. His mouth was held open by the returned parasite, sitting at the threshold of his lips as it decided what to do next.
My health stopped at 37%, and I knew that this reprieve was only temporary. I needed to finish this quickly, otherwise I was done for.
The lanky Initiate wailed as I ripped the sword free of his guts. I twisted it to th
e side as I pulled it out, hoping to do as much damage as I could. The parasite whipped out, right at my face. I ducked out of the way and heard the six fangs snap together where my head had just been. The parasite was a weak spot, so I needed to focus on it.
I stood, hoping to tempt the parasite to snap towards me again. It was so focused on feeding that it couldn't help itself.
It whipped forward again, and I ducked out of the way just as I had before, but this time I brought my sword down in a brutal overhead arc, right on the main body segment of the parasite.
The sword passed through the parasite's flesh without resistance, severing the horrid thing halfway down its length.
It fell to the ground, jaws slowly opening and closing in a death rictus until it stopped moving, curled into a flaccid coil. The reaction of the lanky man was instantaneous. He clutched his stomach. Foul emissions vomited forth. Crimson blood, blackened bile and something else the color of the freshly grown grass all mixed together in a clotting, congealed mess.
The lanky Initiate fell backwards and thrashed about on the ground.
I'd seen something like this before when I was in college. One of my classmates had epilepsy and hadn't been taking his medication. He'd had a fit in the cafeteria, and it looked exactly like this. Had killing the parasite caused some kind of reaction in the host? Something that sent them into a death fit?
I didn't have much time to consider before the tattooed Initiate was on her feet again. I spun to face her and cast Expose Weakness on her. Given the state of my HP, I figured I would need all the extra damage bonuses I could get. I thought she was the same type of enemy as the lanky Crimson Initiate, but I was wrong.
Rise of the Crimson Order: A Crematoria Online LitRPG Novel Page 29