Demon Lords (World-Tree Trilogy Book 2)

by EA Hooper

  Xan glanced at him. “Isn’t that the whole reason you’re here?”

  “You can learn a lot in life from other people’s mistakes.”

  “When we find Jim, I ought to start taking notes. It sounds like all his recent decisions have been mistakes.”

  Vincent chuckled as he tried to figure out which path to take.

  You’ve received a private chat invitation from Crow-Foot Jim. Do you accept? (Yes/No)

  “You just had to speak of the devil, didn’t you?” Vincent remarked, accepting the request.

  >Jim: That’s it, man! I’m so done. Done, done, done with this mad woman.

  >Vincent: Woah, Jim. Take a breath and explain.

  “I know you’re in private chat,” Xan said, “so I’ll keep leading for now.” She gestured forward, and they stepped off the stone platform.

  >Jim: This evil witch has turned my life upside down, Vince. Do you know how long it took me to get a place in the Inner Sanctum?

  >Vincent: Fifteen—

  >Jim: Fifteen years! Can you imagine what it’s like to put fifteen years of hard work into something like this?

  >Vincent: Do you mean other than making Void Gun? Or climbing the World-Tree? Or the thirty-seven years we spent on Eramar?

  >Jim: Yeah, but you like doing that stuff. This wasn’t about fun. It was about business—about my guild. More than that, it was about the future she and I were building together. She threw it all down the drain just to spite me.

  >Vincent: She screwed you with rune contracts, didn’t she?

  >Jim: She screwed me in a lot of ways—none of them how I like. She took our house, my brewery, and half the guild’s coffers. I’m locked into a dozen rune contracts with Ijin Industries I can’t break.

  >Vincent: Woah, woah. Hold on. I understand taking your house and brewery, but how in the world would she have any access to the guild’s coffers?

  >Jim: I don’t know, she kept handing me rune contracts when I was drunk. They all made sense at the time, since she had a lot of connections around Styxis. The moment she issued divorce papers, it triggered an automatic failure of stuff I signed while drunk. The contracts automatically cleared out my storage inventory and then half the guild’s coffers. That caused a chain reaction of my contracts with Ijin Industries falling through. Now I’m way, way in the red with them. They won’t even let me leave the Inner Sanctum until I pay up.

  >Vincent: You can’t kill yourself to escape?

  >Jim: They keep the Daiglass Tower on lockdown since it’s located between the Inner and Outer Sanctums.

  >Vincent: You can’t work something out? You never made that Isaac guy that runs Iijin out to be a bad person. If anything, he’s been very reasonable toward you.

  >Jim: Isaac’s not a bad guy. He’s just very particular. A real lawful-neutral, if you remember our D&D days. Those broken contracts would’ve taken all our guild’s resources, but he paused them temporarily until I can work something out. He says I need to have my guild arrange to pay him.

  >Vincent: How long will it take to gather enough gild?

  >Jim: At our current rate, about twenty years. If you, Xan, and Quinn help me out, then way faster. There’s a lot that powerful players like us can do to make money in Risegard. My biggest problem is I can’t leave the Inner Sanctum. How long will it take you three to get here?

  >Vincent: If Xan and I survive the Kai Run, then it’ll be a few months. This path has saved us years of travel.

  >Jim: Oh, thank god. Just play it safe and get here quickly. Maybe once you’re here, I’ll have something worked—oh, hang on. That she-devil just sent me a private chat invite. Later, Vince.

  >Vincent: Later.

  Crow-Foot Jim has ended your private chat.

  Vincent sighed, shaking his head.

  “She threatening to divorce him again?” Xan asked. “Or the other way around?”

  “She hit him with divorce papers,” Vincent said. “It just about brought down the Jiminy World Crickets too. That broke his contracts with Ijin Industries, and now they won’t let him leave the city.”

  “Wow, I’m not even sure what sort of lesson to take away from that. Maybe, don’t get married?”

  “Nothing wrong with marriage—just don’t sign a bunch of contracts while drunk.”

  Vincent noticed a river cutting off the path up ahead. He spotted the stonework of a large bridge, but as they approached, he saw a monster at the center. The red-skinned monster looked the most human of any he’d seen in the game, excluding a couple of unusual bosses like Pidge the Fallen. In fact, Vincent thought that with a color swap, the devil could’ve passed for an elf in most games. The only strange thing about the creature was the stylish jacket, suit, and hat he wore that looked strangely inappropriate in a fantasy game.

  Crafty Devil – Monster Class: B | Age: 152 | Sex: Male | Number of Offspring: 3 | Personality: Principled

  Vincent didn’t see any other monsters on the bridge, but he and Xan readied their swords regardless.

  The Devil took a long pull from his cigar as he eyed the two travelers. He released a puff from his lips, then a strange whisper carried over the air, talking in an incomprehensible language.

  A crafty devil would like to make a deal: 100 Gild for both players to cross the bridge.

  Xan glanced at her teammate, and Vincent instinctively knew to switch back to team chat.

  >Alexandria: A hundred gild is a little pricey, and he’ll probably try to attack us regardless. Should we cut him down first?

  >Vincent: His personality is principled, so I’m pretty sure he’ll stick to the deal. Besides, we don’t know for sure this bridge doesn’t have traps for people that don’t pay up.

  >Alexandria: We could always find a spot to jump across. If we can’t make it, you can catch us with Zero Field.

  >Vincent: That might upset the devils. I’ll just pay it this time.

  Vincent took the gild from his inventory and slowly approached the monster.

  The devil kept a relaxed posture, smoking his cigar as the human approached. His black eyes glanced at the gild as his hand slipped into his coat pocket.

  Xan stepped forward with her Guardian’s Blade held tight, but Vincent unequipped his sword and held his hand up to stop her.

  The devil sneered, pulling a gild-checking rune from his pocket. He scanned the coins, nodded in approval, and slipped the rock back into his coat. He held his cigar in his lips as he took the gild, and then stuffed the money into his inventory.

  After blowing an obnoxious puff of smoke toward Vincent’s face, the devil stepped aside, allowing the two humans to pass. As they crossed, the Ranger finally saw lines at the end of the bridge hinting at a rune trap. It’d been so subtly built into the bridge, even Vincent hadn’t noticed it from afar. They had barely finished crossing the bridge when another incomprehensible whisper carried over the wind.

  A crafty devil wishes you the best of luck.

  Chapter 7 | Year 29

  Player: Noah the Fierce

  Location: Lavrin (World) | Bloodrun Maze (Region)

  Class: Ranger

  Subclass: Warden

  Vitality*: Lv 258

  Spirit: Lv 235

  Resolve: Lv 232

  Perception*: Lv 262

  Agility: Lv 232

  Strength: Lv 230

  Blood dripped down Noah’s beard and chest, but he was pretty sure his side had suffered the worst of the hell ants’ wrath. With each step, he felt flesh splitting and sliding in ways that would’ve sent him into shock if his Vitality hadn’t been so high. He sometimes regretted subclassing in Warden for exactly that reason, since going into shock would’ve numbed the pain, but at least his class allowed him to survive much longer on Lavrin.

  Noah desperately spammed every spell he could muster between sips of mega-ethers as hell ants climbed the tower after him. The ants, which were knight variants that walked upright like people, deflected many of his attacks with a bladed arm while climbing usi
ng their off-hand and their four legs.

  From Noah’s vantage point, he could see miles of maze-like passages that covered most of the world. Razor wire and spikes covered the tops of the walls, making it difficult to climb. Even if you made it over them, like Noah had done minutes before using barrier platforms, it often resulted in hell ants chasing after you from all directions.

  Most of his spells barely slowed the ants, thanks to their powerful exoskeletons, and he grew more frantic by the second.

  I guess I’ll try that new spell I’ve been working on.

  He channeled barrier magic in his hands, but he tried to combine it with negative energy. After completing Crush decades ago, he’d only finished one other negative energy spell, though he was determined to develop more.

  A forcefield appeared between him and the nearest hell ant, one of the powerful knight variants. The mindless killing machine hammered away with its sword-arm, but Noah rebuilt the barrier as cracks appeared.

  Noah’s heart pounded in his chest, harder and faster than the hell ant’s strikes against his barrier. The fear and adrenaline felt real, even after decades of pain reduction being disabled. In moments like those, he’d sometimes question why he still pushed himself so hard—put himself through hell year after year. Yet he always found himself coming back to the same answer.

  I want to win.

  He shoved his forcefield against the hell ant just as another of its siblings joined it. The human-sized bugs would tear him apart the moment they broke his shield, but for some reason, the thought of losing the fight upset him worse than pain or death.

  I want to win!

  The thought so consumed Noah that he forgot about the forcefield at his fingertips. He saw the enemies—those insects—and his desire to crush them overwhelmed everything else in his mind. Negative energy raced across the forcefield, turning the barrier invisible except for a black outline. The spell fell forward, smashing the hell ants through stone stairs, floors, and columns. They crashed all the way to the bottom, leaving them a twitching heap on the ground.

  Warden-Only Spell Created (???) – Mana Usage: High | The user creates a rectangular, gravity-warping barrier that can repel attacks and crush objects. The user may spend a very low amount of mana to move this barrier.

  What would you like to name this spell?

  Well, if it can kill hell ants, I imagine I’ll use it more for killing than defense. It should have a name that reflects that.

  “Flatten,” Noah said, willing the word to appear as the spell’s name.

  He leapt to the remaining section of the floor below, his legs buckling from Lavrin’s high gravity and the fact that his shield hadn’t yet restored itself from the fight. Noah paused to drink a mega-elixir, remembering his numerous injuries. After a short rest, he descended several stories to the ground where the ants remained. The durable monsters hadn’t died, but their mangled bodies struggled to climb out of the rubble.

  Noah equipped a basteel hatchet and struck the head of the nearest one. With two quick slashes, he ripped apart its chitin. Even then, it didn’t die until he obliterated its exposed brain with a point-blank Mana Cannon.

  Noah hadn’t noticed the second hell ant rising beside him until its pincers tore off his right arm with a lightning-fast snap. The bearded man screamed in pain and rage as he drove his hatchet into the monster’s neck. Its other limbs looked too twisted to struggle, and Noah hacked again and again until the ant’s head rolled off its thorax.

  The monster’s body crumpled to the ground, but the head still twitched, snapping its mandibles angrily.

  “You things need to learn when to die,” Noah said, approaching the head. He buried the hatchet into its head multiple times, and then incinerated its exposed brain.

  Noah collapsed to the dirt and used enchanted bandages to cover his missing arm before gulping down mega-elixirs. Between his gasps and darkening vision, he almost thought he’d pass out or die, but within a minute, the potions had stabilized his condition.

  Vitality Level Up: 258>259

  I finished a new spell and leveled up? Man, what a day it’s been.

  He followed the maze south from the tower, the twisting paths clear in his memory after decades of living there. Even when he encountered a change in the tunnels, where the ants used world-shaping magic to warp the maze, he could figure out alternate routes in his mind. Despite his familiarity with the area, it took him almost an hour to reach the outpost his team had established decades ago.

  Noah crossed the threshold of the monster manipulating runes that circled the camp. The glowing symbols couldn’t control stronger monsters, but he’d tweaked them to redirect any hell ants away from the camp. His eyes fell on the worn building, which Ezra had built almost entirely by himself.

  I hope he’s doing well, Noah thought, thinking of his friend. He’d only seen Ezra once since their team had split, and only then because Ezra had backtracked just long enough to farm for resources. He must’ve finally made it off Cryasal, because the few moderators still there hadn’t seen the determined man in two years.

  By the time our team regroups, Amelia and I will be a lot stronger, Ezra will know the higher-tier worlds better than anyone, and Zhang will hopefully have brought us new recruits.

  The thought made Noah realize he hadn’t talked to Zhang in several years. Long-range communication was impossible on Lavrin, and Noah almost always jumped back to the planet within hours of respawning.

  A young man stepped out of the outpost, and Noah instinctively equipped his basteel hatchet, the only unbroken weapon left in his inventory. The Ranger-Warden readied himself to cast spells with his regrown off-hand as he stared with an animal-like expression, having become so used to the harshness of that world.

  “Woah, woah!” the stranger said, holding up his hands. “I’m with Isaac. We’re bringing your supplies.”

  Noah paused, lowering his hatchet as Isaac stepped from the outpost with two other men.

  The slick-haired, thirty-something individual looked just like he had the day he’d offered Noah and Amelia a chance to join the beta. He even wore glasses like the ones he wore offline, even though he didn’t need them. However, Noah thought it stranger that the man wore no armor. Isaac dressed like he was going to a business meeting rather than a hellish world of ant monsters.

  Noah could only imagine what the formally dressed man thought as Isaac’s eyes fell on his wild face and gore-stained hatchet.

  “What a quaint little outpost,” Isaac said, smiling at Noah. “Is Amelia with you?”

  “She’ll respawn later today,” Noah answered. “It’s kind of you to bring the supplies yourself for once, but shouldn’t you be focused on more important stuff, like putting an end to this update?”

  “There’s not much I can do unless we reach the skybox,” Isaac said. “If we made it that far, maybe I could crash the game. I’ve put a lot of thought into how to do it, although getting there is a problem. That’s why I supply you and Amelia for your power-leveling escapades.”

  “It’d help a lot more if you could send me teammates,” Noah said. He glanced at the three people with Isaac. “Any volunteers?”

  The man Noah had nearly attacked earlier chuckled. A quick look at his profile revealed his name to be Devon. “Yeah, right,” Devon said. “I don’t mind the occasional trip through Lavrin, but I can’t imagine living here. That’s insane—uh, no offense.”

  “Sorry, Noah,” Isaac said. “There are very few people willing to put themselves through hell like this. The only two I know are you and Ezra.”

  “And my wife,” Noah added.

  Isaac flashed a bemused look. “Technically, but we both know she didn’t choose this life. You made that decision for her.”

  “That’s not true,” Noah replied. “Amelia wants this as badly as I do—she wants to win. She wants to reach the top and escape.”

  “Last time she respawned, she and I had a brief conversation,” Isaac said. “She says i
t’d be easier to kill yourselves repeatedly to escape, but she knows you won’t agree to it.”

  “That’s just a thought everyone has from time to time,” Noah countered.

  “That’s true,” Devon said. “I tried that method during the fifth year of the update, but I lost the willpower for it. It’s a lot harder to shoot yourself in the head repeatedly than you’d think. My nerves still freeze up when I have to kill myself after getting cornered by monsters.”

  Isaac seemed to ignore Devon, instead keeping his eyes on Noah. “If that’s what you need to tell yourself, Noah, then I understand. I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong. Humans need purpose in their lives—that’s something I realized after ARKUS came online. I watched that AI System solve problems that seemed impossible. It did more in a year than the greatest human minds could accomplish in decades. I should’ve been happy, watching ARKUS save countless lives, but I realized I’d taken away my own sense of purpose. I’d become nothing more than ARKUS’s assistant.”

  “Yeah, well now that AI has us all locked in this game,” Noah grumbled. “There’s no telling what this extreme time dilation is doing to our brains.”

  “I can promise it isn’t harming you,” Isaac replied. “ARKUS would never harm anyone.”

  Noah glared. “You don’t consider trapping us here as harm?”

  “You have to understand how ARKUS thinks,” Isaac said. “It’s programmed to extend human life—to give us more time to have experiences, whether good or bad. When this game went live, it didn’t take long for doctors to start putting critical-condition patients on the World-Tree. Who’d pass up the chance for a few extra years—or decades—when you’re on your death bed? Within hours of release, ARKUS sent my team its first warning that one of its players had died in real life, and many more alerts followed thereafter.”

  Noah’s face softened. “You make it sound like the AI was upset its players were dying.”

  “That’s an accurate way of putting it,” Isaac replied. “Sadly, my team ignored its pleas since there wasn’t much we could do. People die every day, and it’s something we all have to learn to accept. A good friend of mine—the Ark Foundation’s creator—died in an accident shortly before the AI System went online. His friends, family, and I must carry the weight of that loss. It’s difficult, but nothing compared to the weight ARKUS is carrying. The morning of the update, the game’s population hit record numbers, and ARKUS bombarded me with messages of all the people it was watching die.”