Finding a Body (The Dark Herbalist Book #4) LitRPG series

by Michael Atamanov

  Opposite the dais, there was a grandstand with seats kept out of the rain by a canopy where the important spectators had already begun taking their seats. In the middle of the tribune were the most honorable boxes, based on the coats of arms on the shields of the elite guards looking after the King of Lars and his retinue. The ruler himself was still absent though. On the stage then, next to a pillar with chains, the huge fat red-hooded executioner was arguing with the commander of the city guard, pointing to the rain and wet timber. Seemingly, he was asking for more oil.

  “Prisoners are held in the city jail,” Valerianna Quickfoot’s voice rang out behind me, also carefully observing the scene in the crystal ball. “It is located in the outer city, fairly far from the portal exit site. We might not be able to fight our way through to the prison before the undying come to and start flooding into Lars from every corner of Boundless Realm .”

  “But won’t the Astral Explosion scroll help stem the flow?”

  The mavka shook her head:

  “It won’t, I already ran through the scenario in my head. The spell dome won’t cover the whole huge city, it can only cut off a few regions. And there are too many players in Lars itself, more than two hundred thousand online on a typical day. And we aren’t all combat characters of course. Also our average level is not high enough. Two hundred thousand is just too much for our army. So I suggest we cut off just the old town. That’s where the palaces of the ruler and magnates are, plus the merchant guilds, fancy shops and a relatively small number of undying. What’s more, the old city is walled off from the outlying parts of Lars. As soon as the prison convoy passes through the old city gates, we attack! We’ll take Ziabash, capture the inner walls and gates and activate the Astral Explosion scroll. After that, we’ll only have to worry about the city guard. They have one hundred fighters at around level two fifty, and the king’s guard contains fifty level-three-hundred veterans.”

  I took a closer look at the inner walls my sister just mentioned. They weren’t too tall and clearly not intended to hold off a serious assault, but my fighters could hold them temporarily. After that I looked at the NPC enemies. The high-level elite soldiers, and especially king’s guard inspired unwitting respect. They would be a problem... We would have a serious numbers advantage though, so I had no doubt in our victory.

  I moved the image in the ball. There was the convoy. It had left the prison and was proceeding slowly down empty streets under the pouring rain. And it was surrounded by lots of watchful guards, pikemen, archers and mages. Among them I saw a few living players, too. In the center of the procession, beaten half to death and bound in heavy chains was a level-149 Orc Pirate standing on a caged-in cart. They really worked him over... My first mate’s body was beaten and cut so badly there wasn’t a single patch of intact skin on him. Nevertheless, Ziabash Hardy kept up his proud aura and was standing in the cage, looking contemptuously at his alarmed escorts. Alright, I had seen enough and wanted to get back to my castle.

  I could see the even rows of my army of thirty-thousand standing ready for action. The Amazons were walking between the rows of monsters and undead, trying to get something through to their savage underlings. Orcs and minotaurs, giants and ghosts, all awaiting my command. I supposed that as their leader I should say something to send them off. And the right words just put themselves together:

  “My warriors! The time has come for us to make our fearsome power known. From this day forth, all Boundless Realm will be forced to reckon with us! The government of Lars awaits. Their king is named Valeon the Thirteenth, and he dared to announce himself an enemy of the Dark Sovereign. He even officially declared war on me. But in this battle, you won’t be fighting for the Dark Sovereign. You won’t even be fighting for gold and riches, although we expect a huge amount of loot, and all of it to the last penny will be divided among you. No, you will fight for hope! The hope that, if any of you had the misfortune to fall captive, the rest would come save them from a gruesome death! And you also will be fighting for the future. A future in which the undying finally see you as equals worthy of consideration and sympathy, not merely walking fonts of experience and loot. A future in which any of you, regardless of race or skin color will have the right to life and freedom. A future in which orc and goblin cities won’t be torched just for fun, elven women won’t be kidnapped for harems, and the treasures and ancient burial mounds of the dwarves will not be plundered ever again. A future in which the undying will not also be unpunished, where they’ll have to pay in full for each and every one of their foul crimes! If that is a future you want, CHAAAAARGE!!!”

  Diplomat skill increased to level 32!

  Diplomat skill increased to level 33!

  Foreman skill increased to level 82!

  Warchief skill increased to level 34!

  Warchief skill increased to level 35!

  In response, many throats roared back in exhilaration. It could even be heard from my position in the throne room through the many walls. Hundreds of portals were opened at once, and my army flowed through them like a raging river. Over all the soldiers, I saw positive effect symbols: immunity to fear, immunity to pain, increased attack, faster movement speed. Seemingly, my inspiring words had found a response in the hearts of the NPC soldiers and taken effect.

  “Powerfully said,” Valerianna Quickfoot confirmed, readjusting a sash of elixir vials on her magic robe. After that the mavka sharply changed topic. “Tim, admit it. Did you and Taisha... how to put it... did you ever hrm, consummate the marriage?”

  “What?” I asked, simultaneously surprised and embarrassed at such a tactless question. “Why are you asking?”

  “It’s just that the seditious ideas you just voiced of a Boundless Realm without players farming NPC’s is something I’ve heard your NPC girlfriend Taisha say a few times. And that’s why I’m asking. I want to know how her idea infected you: was it airborne or sexually transmitted?”

  Valerianna Quickfoot smiled, displaying her predatory teeth and simultaneously showing that she was making a joke. I knew that Val was very nervous before the battle, so she was somewhat choking up. But then my sister went totally serious:

  “Amra, this battle is going to be tough. Do you need any magic scrolls, grenades or elixirs?”

  I looked over the list of magical support items my sister had to offer and took a couple ice grenades, a darkness spell scroll (just in case the enemy tried to burn me with the sun) and a few strong healing elixirs. My own regeneration was already pretty good, but sometimes it wasn’t enough.

  Valerianna helped me sort out the vials and grenades in various slots on my belt and the pockets inside my armor, then she unexpectedly returned to the previous topic:

  “Tim, I am still thinking about what you said about a future where players and NPC’s will live in harmony. I’m not sure the leadership of the corporation will like that, even though to me the world you’ve described is inspiring. It may be utopian, but it is the kind of future I want to live in. Although... it would be a totally different game, not at all like Boundless Realm . But now we need to get back to reality. Your army has made it through, which means it’s time for us to go, too. Grab your whip,” my sister said, gesturing for our bodyguards to come closer. Then she unfurled a scroll and right in the throne room opened a huge oval-shaped flaming portal. “Onward, to fight for our future!”

  Day Three. The Lars Massacre

  THERE WAS NO organized resistance. The self-confident or perhaps foolhardy city-dwellers grabbed for their weapons when they saw the orcs and minotaurs, and were immediately wiped out. The undying nearby were just too relaxed by the calm happy reality of their surroundings so they weren’t quick enough on their feet to log off before it was too late. My army skewered them on pikes or their monsters simply tore them to shreds in a matter of seconds. It was a harsh but necessary measure. Leaving witnesses alive just posed too great a risk. We needed to keep the Dark Sovereign’s army composition, numbers and movements a secret. But if
an NPC was peaceful and didn’t put up any resistance, my soldiers wouldn’t touch them. Well, except the ones with crimson red “Child-killing scum!!!” labels over their heads. We killed them on sight and without the slightest pity.

  But we had a special fate in store for the living players with that indelible marker of shame. I had them disarmed, tied up and dragged onto the stage on the central square. I hadn’t decided what to do with them, but I did know for certain that the revenge for killing Yunna and Vaash would be particularly gruesome. I needed to lay the smackdown so hard no player would even think of coming after my companions again.

  “Merchant guild storehouses captured. There are a hundred carts worth of loot here. Shrekson Bastard.”

  “Sovereign, the western bell-tower of the temple of the sun has been taken. The priests did not resist, so we let them live. The main altar is here. I’ll try to siphon its Direct Intervention Points over to your throne. Shaman Ghuu.”

  “Amra, the palace of the ruler of Lars has been double encircled. Not even a mouse could get out now. Part of the king’s guard and city guard have been defeated, and the rest are barricaded inside. The king and his retinue tried to flee via underground tunnels, but local dwarves who once built those tunnels told us about them, and your cyclopes caved them in. We await your command to assault. Iron Jeanette.”

  “I’ve placed archers and spearmen on the walls of the old city. For now it’s quiet on the other side. Seemingly, the enemies were not expecting us to show up uninvited and still haven’t really woken up. But that’s no reason to relax. The Boundless Realm forums are in a tizzy. There are groups of undying forming hurriedly to come to Lars. Any minute now a TOP clan might arrive. Valerianna Quickfoot . ”

  Messages were pouring in from all sides both standard, private, and those sent for money via messenger. I could hardly see and react to them all, but I more or less had the situation under control. Yeah, if anyone thought I was simply releasing savage monsters in a densely populated city, giving them total freedom and thus dooming Lars to destruction, they were deeply mistaken. My army had been training and drilling discipline for the last few days to prepare for this. And that was also why each hundred NPC monsters was assigned a living player to command them. There was no anarchy, nor any outbursts, senseless cruelty or disobedience. Even the extremely willful and stubborn cyclopes were being surprisingly obedient, breaking down locked palace doors on Shrekson Bastard’s orders and smashing the hastily-constructed barricades of fine furniture.

  I divided the army into three regiments, each with their own mission. Regiment one was supposed to take the walls and gates of the old city as quickly as possible, separating that wealthy area from the rest of the huge city of Lars. That was a mission of utmost importance, so I assigned it to Valerianna Quickfoot. I also gave her the most proficient Drow elves, dwarves and orcs. And just ten minutes after the invasion had begun, my sister wrote me a private message that the walls had been taken, the gates were locked up tight, and the black banner of the Dark Sovereign hung from all the guard towers of the old city, which was also capped with an Astral Explosion dome.

  I already knew about the Astral Explosion from a game message saying the forbidden spell had been used in the city of Lars. But my little sister did not in fact risk prison, because the city guard had already been dispatched by regiment two, which was under the command of Iron Jeanette. At the time of the attack, most of the city guard was on the central square next to the scaffold, and that square was where the bloodiest battle of our invasion took place. Based on the replies in the chat and private messages from Iron Jeanette, the square and streets leading to it were drenched in blood. The hundred level-250 guards and the few level-300 royal NPC guards and fifty players who had come to watch the execution of Ziabash Hardy did not let their lives go cheap. In the five or seven minutes that conflict lasted, regiment two lost more than fifteen hundred NPC’s, mostly undead and rougarou. Before the last defenders fell, thirty of my Amazons were also on their way to respawn.

  Regiment three’s mission then was to block off the center, catch the few players there and limit the NPC city-dwellers’ ability to move about the streets. I was worried that King Valeon the Thirteenth would try to organize the scattered guard divisions under his command, both of undying and common citizens. But I overestimated my enemy. The King was just a big talker. With Yunna and Vaash tied up and helpless before their executions, he said he wanted to lead the war against the Dark Sovereign, reach my castle and execute me and all my companions. However, when the first battle horns sounded the king abandoned his subjects and tried to flee the old city like a coward via an underground passage. And now Valeon the Thirteenth was with his offspring, retinue and servants locked in the palace, where I was personally intending to have a chat with the rude fellow. The crowned head of the ruler of Lars would make a great addition to the back of my throne!

  For the beginning of the assault, I was busy with another important matter. I was leading the strike brigade attacking the prison convoy. Unfortunately, we did not pull it off unexpected. It would have been quite the feat, given the audible screams, metal clanging and sounds of bloody battle already permeating the city. Fifty NPC prison guards and ten living players were bunched around the cage, keeping my warriors at bay and shouting they would kill Ziabash Hardy at once if my orcs and wolves took even one step further. However, I did not allow the prison guards to kill my first mate. All the healers at my disposal were ordered to heal the wounded Orc Pirate, restoring his life while I charged, slashing into the rows of armor-bound guardsmen, drawing their attention and striking down enemies left and right.

  My hair whip proved itself brilliantly, especially now that it was reinforced with fire magic. The whip easily cut through the metal of the armor and shields, burning enemies as it did. But still my main strike force was the Gray Pack. Even I wasn’t expecting such greatness out of my pets! Buffed up with blessings, my abilities, their own and my perks as well as bonuses from Fenrir’s Cursed Regalia, the wolves, hounds and rougarou cut through the enemy ranks like a hot knife through butter, ruthlessly tearing the flesh of enemy players, their pets, and NPC’s alike. In just one minute, all that was left of the prison convoy were bloodied scraps of viscera on the cobblestone causeway, while my orcs had already broken the lock off the cage and set their old friend free.

  “Captain Amra!” exclaimed the brutally beaten yet huge and fearsome orc as he went down on one knee, gratefully kissing my hand and not ashamed at his tears of joy. “I was prepared to accept death on the pyre with honor and trusted that you would avenge me. But the idea that you would come here, to the very hive of the enemy and save me from certain death... I couldn’t even dream of such a thing!” Ziabash Hardy grew embarrassed at the emotional outpouring and stood up to his massive height, roaring so loud the echo rolled down the narrow little streets of the old city. “Sovereign, you lead the way! I’ll follow you to the edge of the earth! Even over the edge! You’ll never find a more loyal first mate!”

  Orc opinion of you has increased by +10!

  Brotherhood of the Coast opinion of you has increased to +75 (loyalty)

  Superboss skill increased to level 12!

  Warchief skill increased to level 44!

  And then Ziabash Hardy, now totally healed and decked out with new armor and weapons, helped me sort through messages from the couriers and lead my troops. In theory we could leave Lars now. The main goal of the invasion had been accomplished, and would already be leaving with plenty of loot. But I decided not to limit myself to half-measures. I was going to force the Kingdom of Lars and its ruler Valeon the Thirteenth to fully pay for his audacity.

  So regiments two and three were given the mission of systematically clearing out the old town. The orcs and rougarou went scrupulously, building by building, suppressing any possible resistance, breaking into houses and searching for hidden undying. They also marked valuable loot and called my giants and minotaurs to drag the loot to the square
just in case.

  Just then, another swift-footed Drow elf messenger came to give me a message scroll. I tore the ribbon, unfurled it and gave it a quick scan:

  “Amra, the dwarves of the Bank of Thorin the Ninth requests we not rob their building. They refer to some arrangement and a gift for the Dark Sovereign, which it looks like they all chipped in for. Are they lying, or are they really under your protection? I know that the Most Reliable Bank of Gremlins is not to be touched, but I heard nothing about the dwarven bank. What should I do? One of their workers is a distant relative of mine, I’d rather not make a mistake. Gnum Spiteful.”

  I had to admit, I was also baffled. What arrangement, what gift? But still I was in no rush to accuse the bearded troglodytes of lying. Instead I whistled to VIXEN and scrambled onto the back of the Royal Forest Wyvern, who just barely fit between the buildings. I ordered her to fly to the surrounded palace. That was where most of the dwarven wedding guests were. With lizard-like speed, wriggling down a narrow street and scrambling up a wall onto a roof, VIXEN finally managed to spread her luxurious wings and take off.

  I looked closely at the part of town we now controlled. From up here, I practically couldn’t see any trace of war in the old city. There were just a few wisps of curling smoke and rain-quenched fires. On the central square, there was a towering mountain of chests visible even through the damp fog. And over my head there was a huge magic dome shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow, but obscured in places by dark rainclouds. I had to give the Amazons their due. They had a good handle on their fierce, savage underlings, and the invasion of Lars seemed likely to go down in history as the most well-managed and even delicate invasion of all time. Some may say this was the wrong way for the Dark Sovereign to act, given he was created by the corporation to be the ghastly bane of all Boundless Realm . But I didn’t think so. I treated my enemies as harshly and even cruelly as possible, but I tried not to harm the neutral NPC city-dwellers too much. And it wasn’t because of some sense of charity and kindness. No, I did it to play up that contrast.