The Way of the Clan 9

by Dem Mikhaylov

  “I understand … thanks for the warning, Ros. I will tear Orbit is legs in half! We are preparing. Time of the wake? “

  “A couple of minutes, no more.”

  “Roger that”.

  “Malice!” I called the silenced wizard.

  “What!”

  “It is in such cases that various artifacts, spheres with the fury of God, and other unknown gear items appear?”

  “Oh yeah! Everything there will be influenced by his rage! If you get something special, I am first in line, disciple. After all, you are my favorite pupil, my friend, comrade-in-arms, my … “

  “Malice, shut up!”

  “I am silent. But…”.

  “Malice!”

  «…»

  “Ros, try not to die. Do not forget about the entrance to the dungeon. This is MEGA IMPORTANT! If all the corridors are overwhelmed by spheres of rage and artifacts - we must be the first to enter! And then block the entrance – and, without letting anyone in, put on aprons with the motto “Nothing left behind!” And carefully vacuum each centimeter of dungeon. “

  “Understood. I will do what I can. That is it … I am landing, … I cannot speak. “

  “Good luck.”

  “Good luck!”

  The bottom was less than five meters away. I literally fell on a huge oblong hill of mud and slime. Among the dirt was something that looked like a dead, sprawling gigantic stingray. And under the mantle … were those bones? The giant bones of the skeleton’s clawed hand trembled at the bottom…

  The hand itself was a real work of art – the strange bones were bizarrely connected together. These were not enlarged human remains. There were five fingers – in this case it was similar. But although I did not know much of anatomy, it was unlikely that there would be four phalanges. The claws were scary, each the size of my hand in length. Carnivorous, sharpened. If you swung this hand in full force …

  All the rest was hidden by dirt and by a mysterious black and green mantle. There was a light coming from below. The colossus, hidden from my eyes, shook nervously. If he was sleeping - he was seeing a nightmare.

  My feet landed on the bottom right next to Anrull’s fingers. I could have held out a hand and touched the claw of his thumb. But first of all I sat down and picked up a torn black-and-green flap from the dirt. Without looking, I rolled it up and put it into a bag. The whirlwind of enthusiastic self-admiration was rolling inside me - I overruled gaming laws, peacefully bathed in the essence of divine death, curses were useless against me, and I was not suffocating in the water. You would also start feeling like a god. However, I quickly sobered up, knowing full well that, although I was protected from curses, an accidental hit from the awakened deity would turn me into a flattened hamburger patty.

  “Daddy … is everything okay?” The anxious thought of daughter made her way through like a ray of light. Near my face danced the brightest spark of light in which, for a moment, I saw Roska’s alarmed face.

  “Everything is fine,” I hurried to put all my strength into the answer, making it clear that there was no reason to worry.

  “Cold and darkness around you, Dad!”

  “They will not harm me.”

  “Should I come? I can if you really want!”

  “No! I forbid you! I will be back soon! Catch some big and delicious fish for me. “

  “Okay…”

  Damn — Roska did not seem relieved. And her temper was hectic. It was time to end this gloomy spectacle. I stepped heavily, sinking deep into the mud, and I carefully reached forward and placed a scroll under the bone’s palm with the spell “cloud of life” of the highest rank.

  I was just about to activate the scroll, but I remembered about my insurance just in time — hastily, I pulled out a curled black rag from my belt, and tied it around my head, trying to make sure that the symbol on the forehead showed a green triangle with an inverted five-beam star on top of it. On the sides there were two more symbols - three wavy vertical lines. This was Orbit’s art. This rag is my only defense against the awakened deity. The same for the elf, Doc, Kolyvan and the snake. The symbol meant I do not worship Anrull, but I am not an enemy to him, either, according to the elf. It was necessary to enclose the whole symbol in a rectangular frame of angular lines to loudly state - I worship the god Anrull. Everything was complicated, but necessary.

  In addition, I also checked the communication channel with Orbit and Doc - to warn them if something very bad happened. They were silent - I asked them not to distract me.

  It seemed that everything was all right for now …

  I bent over again, touched the scroll, and activated the “cloud of life”. Then I immediately stepped back.

  What would happen if there was a spark of life in the hand of death?

  Well, what happens if I put smoking hot coal in my hand? Or pour a bucket of boiling water into my hand?

  I’d just scalded God.

  A powerful healing discharge flared up inside the bony palm. Anrull’s hand contracted sharply — at lightning speed. His fingers twitched as fast as five furious attacking cobras. The glowing spark of life blinked slightly and went out. A black cloudy shroud extended in all directions, overflowing with green sparks. The aura covered me entirely. Each spark was something terrible and intelligent, a micro servant busily examining everything around. The black aura instantly filled the bottom of the abyss, thickened slightly, and rushed up to the surface.

  A huge hill of mud began to rise. I took a few steps away, trying not to turn away or run. I could not escape from God.

  Now I saw two skeletal hands – its elbows lifted, its terrible hands resting against the bottom. The shoulders wrapped in mantle appeared, and then the giant hooded head emerged from the mud.

  A sigh was heard — long and hoarse. I was struck by a wave of water, my legs gorged two furrows in the mud, and then I flopped on my ass. I quickly got up – if I was to die, then it would be in a decent pose at least. I crossed my arms over my chest, having checked beforehand whether the bandage with the protective symbol had been torn off.

  The head jerked higher, and the hood was thrown off. One of the most terrible skulls I had ever seen turned to me.

  There were no eyes. And they never were. A solid bone “wall” was in the place where people have eye cavities and a bridge of nose. The wall was strongly arched forward, as if giving extra space to the powerful brain hidden behind it. The mouth … such a nightmarish fanged jaw should not belong on a rational being. Any sharks would envy this “mouth.” One thing was for sure - Anrull was not a vegetarian. Moreover, the jaws were very wide and massive, and the mouth would be able to cut through any bone.

  To say it shortly - it seemed to me that I had woken up a blind tyrannosaur.

  But, even without eyes, the skull looked directly at me. From the open mouth, black mud flowed out from between his teeth.

  “Dad! More cold and darkness! “

  “It is all right, my dear! I am having an adult conversation with one certain uncle. I will be back soon. With presents.”

  “Oh yeah! A fishing rod, hooks, floats and fishing lines!”

  The God Anrull has awakened!

  The laconic and short inscription was surprising. Was the gaming system paralyzed from horror by my reckless act?

  I forced myself to open my mouth and begin to speak:

  “O God Anrull! Ancient and mighty! Do not be angry with us - me and my two friends standing above. We are here to awaken you from a dream of eternity. And thatis all.”

  It is strange to talk underwater … the voice trembles, and you hear an incomprehensible ringing and gurgling, as if it is hard to control it. I hope I did not seem to him like a clown pissing with laughter.

  “A dream lasting forever …” The clattering mouth gave birth to roaring words. The bony convex “wall” in the place of the eyes suddenly became covered with a hundred strange cracks, which then almost immediately disappeared, and them formed a strange drawing, clearl
y having some meaning, but not to me.

  “You have been sleeping for a very long time, God Anrull,” I confirmed. “For so long, … that I do not even know what to compare it to.”

  Anrull screamed …

  The giant skeleton rising to his feet threw back his skull and issued an incredibly loud resonant scream. The earth shook. The black aura swirled around the figure of Anrull, the mantle fluttered in the watery whirlwind. His palms clenched into terrible fists, and long spikes emerged from the knuckles of his fingers.

  The water trembled and filled with a green glow. The vibration became stronger. A hit…

  I got knocked off my feet. Mud was spinning around. But I managed to notice how the ancient awakened deity disappeared into a black-green teleport. Parting, he said nothing. But I did not worry – Orbit had warned me that, most likely, it will be so. Actually, I did not care - I did not do this for myself.

  “He has gone,” I told my friends. And duplicated the same message to Baroness.

  “We are already in the knoo-o-o-o-ow!” A message from Malice. “Fuuu-u-u-uck!”.

  “Ros, float up! What a terrible being! I almost wet myself,” Doc told me. “We are waiting for you. Orb wants to show you the door, behind which our mana increase waits. And some other ancient knowledge! And more magic! Hurry up!”

  “What do you mean hurry up?! You have the rope! Bring me up! “

  “Oh!”

  “Do not do it yet!” I reacted in time. “I will collect some stuff here.”

  “OK”

  On the collection of “some stuff” I wasted about twenty minutes, no less. Only then did I give the signal. The elven rope that connected me to the surface jerked, and I seemed to fly up like a caught fish. I left a trail of shallow dirt and mud behind me.

  “Orbit, what kind of God is this? Such a weird face!” I wrote, as there was nothing to do during the ascent.

  “He became a God. But he was mortal. “

  “Wow! And to what race do these creepy skeletons belong to?”

  “To that race that is no more.”

  Wow … and how was this to be understood?

  “You do not mean of the Greats, a.k.a the Ancients, do you?”

  “Yes.”

  Brief and clear. Thank you, Orbit. And I was naively hoping for a riddle.

  I flew up and out of the water and, with a splat, landed on the shore. Crashing down, I shook my head and grumbled:

  “You did not catch me again …”

  “You woke up the god, boss!” Doc said, his eyes glinting. He was dancing next to me, very similar to the elf standing next to him, holding the jar with “dead water” in the mammoth’s bag.

  “Return the flask with the cocktail Anrull!” I demanded.

  “No, no …”

  “Why do you need it? Will you use it in another trick of yours!?”

  “No, no … I neeeee-ed it …”

  Seems like the elf, at first, did not see the value in the essence of divine death— and later, when the time came, he figured out that it might be useful for some special purpose.

  “It is not about money, but do you imagine how much such a jar might cost?” I asked. “Bom will crush every bone in your body for it, and suck out your soul. You know already that your speeches will not work for him.”

  After a pause, the elf scratched his head and suggested:

  “We wooon’t tell Bom …”

  “All right,” I agreed, and took out a crumpled rag of black and green color. The item was barely noticeable and was not identified. “Look at that … a piece of Anrull’s cloak. Hmmm?”

  “Give it to mee-ee ...”

  “Nope. We will sell it and become rich.”

  A leap from Orbit, and I was deprived of the precious loot.

  “Dig your own grave,” I suggested. “If not for yourself, then for the mammoth. Bom will finish one of you off.”

  “What about me?” Doc hastened to clarify.

  “And you, for what?”

  “Well … you understand … when we walked here, he wrote – do not return without a full bag of the most expensive pieces. Do not indulge in Ros’ dishonesty, in Orbit is madness, give me a complete list of everything found. I do not want Bom to crush every bone in my body … I am a doctor, I need to operate… So it is decided - I put the flask and a rag in the list. I am marking it as is: “probably very expensive.””

  “Come heee-ere …” the skinny elf beckoned to him with a pale hand, standing on the edge of a water-filled abyss.

  “Go theee-eere …” moaned a ghost sadly, rising up behind the doctor’s back and beginning to push him forth with ghostly hands.

  “Doc, are you serious?” I asked, wiping my face.

  “Alright, alright!” Doc screamed, resisting by using his feet on the floor. “I get the point! I will be silent!”

  The ghost howled in frustration and soared up to the ceiling, where a couple of ghosts were already spinning fast.

  “Mana,” I reminded everyone. “The main purpose of our trip.”

  “I would not have refused it either,” Doc sighed, fearfully retreating from the edge of the abyss. “Ross - you were so cool! Disappeared into the underwater darkness fearlessly … and then stood next to the risen god-skeleton. I captured it all! At first normally, and then through the magic telescope. The quality is good. Kaylen will give a lot of gold for this video - rather, not her, but the Bulletin of Valdira. You taped the memorable moments too, right?”

  “No,” I confessed, defeated. “Damn … oh, well. Orb, where are we going? Down the corridor?”

  After the nod of our oracle, who had climbed back onto Kolyvan, I commanded:

  “Back to the road! The order of movement is the same. Guys, do not relax! We have done a lot — but we do not relax. Doc, draw the map. I really need an increase in mana. If only because this time I will be getting it myself. Sometimes you want to be an independent peasant …

  “We will try, the boss,” bravely reported Doc. “We will try. The main thing is not to get to creatures who are too strong. They’ll take us down in one blow.

  “OK…”

  “This way …”

  Orbit chose a fairly wide passage spiraling downward. There was a lot of water in the aisle, and as a result I had to jump on the walls like a grasshopper. The mammoth floated. Familiar bluish outbreaks alerted the presence of eels. It took three turns before we reached the next intersection, at which point we turned left, finding a few blue dots on one of the walls. The journey was not easy — we fought for every meter. We did not battle — with the help of two ghosts, Orbit attacked a reptile in the back, and when it, furiously howling, jumped after them, we hightailed it out of there. One ghost managed to escape — another was not lucky, and was dispelled by a powerful blow of the monster. We descended lower and lower.

  As for loot … I alone collected about two dozen violent fires. This was a huge thing. Players were killed instantly for such loot. And I collected them like mushrooms. Sometimes I even was lazy to bend down, and only the memory of Bom’s green fist gave me incentive for another bow.

  Only an hour later did we reach the right place. It was impossible to miss. The terrain looked like a giant dishwashing sink with the drain poured in blue paint. As though the fool who had painted thee markings — carefully dripped paint on corners, made thin arrows, tiny blobs — got to the finish point and realized that he had two more liters of unspent paint left. And poured the remains into the well …

  Of course, it was not paint — it was a bright blue natural stone with patches of white. Water was not visible in the well, but a characteristic rumbling roar came from inside.

  Before we started the descent, we made a short respite. Five minutes. Kolyvan again underwent treatment by Doc, who happily reported that he received the third rank of achievement “Bestial Doctor.” Joy and work did not prevent the doctor from sharing the news that he regularly received from the outside world. The Sleepless apparently wrote continuous
ly.

  First — the breakthrough of divine rage was still taking place. But not inside the dungeon — this I was very much afraid of. The breakthrough happened on top of Tidal Death. At first, a black-green flash burst out into the sky, and then a terrible frenzied howl emanated from it. And then a black cloud went out in all directions. And all that it touched died, and then turned into the undead. Now the top of the cliff was “decorated” with a giant black patch resembling a swaying flower bud, slowly sinking to the ground and deadening everything in its path.

  Players were killed by the cloud. Slowly but surely it pumped the life out of them, depriving them of sight, cutting down their characteristics. In addition to all this horror, several good items were also scattered. Fragments of mysterious minerals, huge magic crystals, unidentified bone amulets. Stunned after the breakthrough of divine rage, the players did not have time to come to their senses and shut their mouths open with amazement, but the Sleepless, who for some reason before dispersed for some reason dispersed and occupied several places, began playing the role of professional baseball players, catching everything flying from heaven. Therefore, they also snatched the lion’s share of the falling mana. In time, some soaring aerial creatures also got to a lot of the falling gifts, after which they disappeared, taking the prey to the ships. They were followed by dozens of fast land animals — cheetahs and ostriches, hurrying to get out of the cliff. The Black Baroness waved her handkerchief after them…

  Then chaos reigned. Everyone understood that there had been a breakthrough in the unprecedented power of divine rage, and that the zone of defeat was expanding. It had almost completely enveloped the cliff and was beginning to expand towards the open ocean.

  “What should we answer?” Doc asked.

  “Tell them — we work,” I grunted, dropping my legs into the black water. “Orbit, were you sure? It looks all too simple.”

  “Ye-e-es,” sighed the elf with sorrow. “Too e-e-easy … not intt-teresting ...”

  “The simpler — the better,” I remarked philosophically, sinking to the throat into the well. “Throw the rope!” I shouted indignantly and fell to the ground.