Respawn: Blade of the Ancients (Respawn LitRPG series Book 5)

by Arthur Stone

  But he had to somehow keep his tormentors from getting too serious too quickly.

  The door swung open as if it had been blown off. A man charged in, leveling the room with his arrogance. Cheater ground his teeth.

  He would have to tweak his plans yet again. Things were changing so quickly.

  This new character seriously tipped the balance of power in the room. Cheater had been wondering how he would deal with Colt, the quasi, Blockade, and possibly Honesty. Some viable options had presented themselves.

  Now, those options all threw up their hands. The man who had entered was likely stronger than the four others and Cheater combined.

  It was Romeo. One of the Continent’s oldest players. He was experienced, with a very high level and a wide variety of abilities, plus lots of practice using them.

  Colt gently reached for the grip of his pistol. “Who are you?”

  “Never in my life have I seen so many idiots in one place,” Romeo replied coldly.

  “Take it easy. You’re in this place too, you know. So who are you? This is an interrogation. No outsiders allowed.”

  “I’m an outsider? How then did I get in here?” Romeo pointed at Cheater. “It was on my order that you seized this one. He is mine. Not yours. Entirely mine. What is it you think you’re doing here? Who gave you the right to touch him?”

  Colt grimaced. “You should have led with that. Our orders come from Bugle. We’re charged to clear everything from his inventory and to find out where the rest is hidden.”

  Romeo shook his head. “Ah, Bugle, Bugle. You never change. Horned bastard. He’ll strangle you for a spore. Now, don’t you touch this man. I’m going to go and resolve this affair with Bugle right now.”

  “But our orders—”

  Romeo cut him off. “Are you sure you want to quarrel with me?”

  Colt raised his hands. “Alright, let’s keep it cool. But please handle this quickly. I’m supposed to follow orders.”

  “So if you die in the course of following orders, do you get a big medal?”

  Colt’s mouth opened slightly. “What do you mean by that?”

  Romeo approached and stood in front of Cheater, then smiled widely enough to make the captive’s blood run cold. “Well hello, Rocky. Or Cheater. Or is it Chester now? I’m having trouble keeping track of your names these days. But you wait just a minute, and we’ll get this sorted out.”

  With these words, Romeo pulled out a knife and began to cut the adhesive tape binding Cheater’s left forearm onto the stick.

  “Hey! Stop!” Colt exclaimed, clutching his gun again .

  “Take it easy,” Romeo said, not turning.

  For some reason, Bugle’s assistant obeyed. He simply watched, perplexed, as his prisoner was cut free.

  But freedom was not the goal. Romeo tore the tape off from Cheater’s forearm, then cut his sleeve and the bandage underneath, removing a couple of thin, sharpened pieces of metal. He showed them to Colt. “See these? Poisoned with spore flakes. One scratch, and you’re a corpse. You should search your prisoners before you tie them up.”

  “What was he going to do with those, when he was tied?” Colt wavered.

  “Kill you. And remember, he could have anything in his inventory. I’ve been pursuing him for a long time now, across three regions. I’ve noticed something interesting. Everyone who gets in a fight with him dies, and fast. Because they underestimate him. They think like you. They think he can’t do anything to hurt them.

  “He wears the face of a simpleton as a mask. Even as a newbie, he surprised me. In a bad way. This is a very dangerous man. Do not touch him, and do not listen to anything he says. Just sit here and make sure he does not go anywhere. I’ll go speak with Bugle. Face to face, not over chat. I think he has started to misinterpret my chat messages, and I intend to correct that.”

  Colt nodded. “OK, but make it quick. I’m ignoring my orders for this.”

  Cheater had to try hard not to smile.

  The situation would, for now, return to the way it was before Romeo appeared.

  He would remember his options and adjust them.

  After all, his sharps were no longer on him.

  * * *

  “Hey, Colt,” Cheater called softly.

  “What do you want?” the thug asked. He had remained silent since the door had slammed as Romeo left.

  “Is the old agreement still in effect?”

  “What agreement?”

  “The one where, if I give you everything I have, and tell you where to get the rest, Bugle takes me in.”

  “Why do you care?”

  “What do you mean? You saw that freak. I don’t want to go with him. Bugle said he would cover for me.”

  “You should have said that earlier, but you didn’t have the balls. Now, I have no idea what they’ll decide.”

  “Decide?” Cheater’s voice grew hot. “Did you see how many mods they had of mine? I know where more are located. Enough to fill five packs.”

  Colt’s eyes flashed eagerly, but his voice was hesitant. “And you’ll show us?”

  “Of course. I have a map in my inventory. A paper treasure map. It’s a quest item I used to find the place. A special quest that disables ordinary Cartography. As far as I know, the place cannot be found at all without the map.”

  “Show me. We’ll try to figure it out. Use the interface to add your map to mine, after you add a marker.”

  “Like I said, Cartography isn’t active on this one. There’s just a large blank spot on my normal map.”

  “Well, show me the general area, then.”

  “Alright, here goes. What about Romeo?”

  “If there really are as many mods as you say, you can consider yourself Bugle’s best friend.”

  Colt was so hesitant about this last part that every word screamed that it was a lie. Cheater pretended to bite. He strove with everything he had to play his part: a man ready to go to any lengths to avoid Romeo’s clutches.”

  “We’re agreed, then. Have your monster collect the map. It’s in my inventory.”

  Colt shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way. You’re the only one who can access that inventory—no abilities can.”

  “How am I supposed to get it, then?” Cheater moaned in despair.

  Colt turned. “Blockade, unlock his inventory. For five seconds. Nail, watch his hands, each and every finger. We don’t want any sudden moves. Honesty, my dear, slow the man down. Just the usual Speed reduction. If you try anything, prisoner, it means you want to part with your teeth. I’ll be over here, making sure of that.”

  The quasi’s name is Nail? Great. The monster was clearly going on four hundred pounds and wore thick homemade body armor. His bumpy legs evidenced a superhuman power. If Cheater snatched his revolver, the mountain of meat would easily prevent him from taking a shot. He knew this, but he doubted there would be another opportunity.

  So, he had to make maximum use of this one. It was now or never.

  Colt was losing his grip, shouting squeamishly at the slobbering madman, “Honesty! Slow! Slowdown!”

  The man did not cease shaking his head, but he did start chattering his teeth. Loudly.

  “Good boy, good boy!” Colt lauded him.

  What was happened? Cheater’s body felt like it was weighed down with lead. He had trouble keeping his eyelids up.

  Note: Strong negative effect! Speed and Reaction reduced to minimum values!

  So the moron had a slowdown ability, too. Or was that simply a use of his main control ability? Whatever the case, Cheater would be unable to grab a turtle with a debuff like this on him. It would run away from him.

  He admired their thoroughness. Even if he had the most powerful of guns in his inventory, it would not help him. It would take him several seconds just to aim the pistol, which would, of course, not be allowed.

  The quasi loosed his left arm, completing the work Romeo had begun. But he did not tear off the remnants of the bandage to check for
anything else underneath it. They had taken the bracelet Cheater had retrieved from the tomb before loading him into the truck. Bound items could still be stolen. They would return to a cache for their owners, but only later.

  That would be no help now.

  Cheater began fighting against the debuff—slowly clenching and unclenching his fist. He had to stretch.

  “The fuck are you fondling?” the quasi intoned. “Do what you were told. Get the map.”

  Cheater sighed and complained, his voice pained and sluggish. “Everything is numb. I feel like I’m made of wood.”

  “The hell gives you the right to complain? Just get the map! Slowly, now. Any sudden moves, and we break your bones.”

  The quasi was leaning over him and pressing into his side. Cheater was still on the hook. And slow as molasses.

  “Are his abilities blocked?” Colt asked.

  “Yes. No abilities available,” Blockade replied.

  As requested, Cheater slowly bent his arm and touched his chest. He could not hurry while under the debuff, but there was no need. Everything had been prepared for such a situation as this.

  A moment later, a plastic cup appeared. He had placed it in his inventory so that it would be oriented upside-down when removed.

  Gravity yanked a weighty grenade out of the cup, pulling the lever on it as it weight. It fell to the floor, plinking across its planks. With all the speed he could muster, Cheater grabbed the quasi by the neck and pressed the monster towards him in a great embrace. He imagined himself adding a kiss, and Bugle walking in to discover the scene.

  “The hell!” Cult screamed, bouncing away.

  The quasi was unsure what to do for a moment—as often happened to players unaccustomed to acting without orders. His prisoner was no longer reaching for his inventory. Instead he was hugging the monster’s neck.

  Then the giant roused himself, twitched, and tried to break away.

  He failed. Even without his bonus items, Cheater’s Strength, with its multiplier applied, was around 300. A quasi, even a powerful one, did not always exceed a Strength of 200.

  And his level, 35, was visible. Despite all of his quasi bonuses, Nail could not overpower the prisoner. The speed debuff was still an issue. No matter what move he made, it would take him too much time.

  The fuse lasted four seconds.

  All of those gathered were experienced players, except for Honesty. They knew very well what a grenade could do. Scolding the player was the last thing on their minds. Each made use of those four seconds Nail bellowed and struggled with all his might. Colt and Blockade rushed for the door, but collided and went head over heels, then tried to crawl, still bumping into each other.

  There was no cover in the room. Plastic chairs could not protect anyone from shrapnel, and the table itself was too narrow and flimsy—and yet bolted to the floor.

  Even the window was not a good option, as its bars had been shut when Clown was hung outside. The only thing to hide behind was the quasi. Therefore, Cheater clung to him desperately. If he was lucky, Nail would take the shrapnel for him.

  But he was not about to just count on his massive pseudohuman shield. He frantically tried to activate Smile of Fortune, over and over. The third attempt worked. In his hurry to leave the room, he had stopped sustaining his blocks. Now, the magic of the Continent and everything else was available to Cheater.

  He stopped clinging to the quasi’s fat neck, as there was no longer any point.

  Time was almost up, and Smile of Fortune had a 50% chance of protecting him from damage for 1.5 seconds after use. A nuclear warhead could hit right now, and Cheater would feel nothing. For one and a half seconds.

  He might end up buried in the ruins, of course.

  The grenade exploded. Cheater wasn’t even stunned. A mildly unpleasant sensation struck his eyes and rippled through his ears.

  He also felt a feeling of freedom in his right arm, and in his legs. The lead jacket of Honesty’s ability was loose now.

  Grenades come in all kinds. This one contained several thousand steel spheres. As if shotgun blasts were fired in all directions. A single shotgun hit could only kill a player if it was perfectly aimed, but this amount of shot, fired in all directions, could take out anything and everything. Plus, the walls and ceiling were concrete, so there would be some ricochet. Several times over.

  The scotch tape on his right arm was shredded. His legs were hit, too, but this did little more than weaken his binds. Jerking his body hard, Cheater tore what was left of his restraints, and then stepped to the floor.

  The room was a mess. Smoke irritated his nostrils, along with the scent of shit. Unlike most cases, Honesty was not the only one in the room to blame. He lay quietly in the center of the room, his white mantle dyed burgundy. Blockade and Colt lay a little further, almost to the door. The former was not moving. The latter trembled and wheezed, bleeding from the mouth.

  Cheater crouched over the moaning quasi, retrieved a simple short-barreled revolver from his inventory, and shot Nail through the temple. He repeated the execution with everyone else, too. Next time he was at a shop, he realized, he had to look for a light weapon that had a higher rarity. In Fifth Mine, he had purchased the first decent revolver he had come across. Its low weight and low price were its only advantages.

  Cheater cared nothing for price now.

  As he reloaded the revolver, he moved to the table, which held a surprisingly intact telephone. It was beat up, but still functioned, and was ringing.

  He picked up the phone and pressed it to his ear as he continued fiddling with his reloading operation. “Hello?”

  “The hell is going on up there, Colt?” an unfamiliar voice screamed.

  “This isn’t Colt,” Cheater replied, calm as ever.

  “No? Who then?”

  “Death.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. I just turned four men into corpses. Now listen. These are your orders: Start counting. More corpses are coming.”

  Cheater dropped the phone and stuck the loaded revolver in his belt. Crouching over the quasi’s body, he took the monster’s submachine gun.

  He preferred not to turn men into corpses with his bare hands. So, first he needed some weapons.

  An alarm sounded outside. The base was waking up.

  Cheater smiled, and cast Helping Hand. It was the ability with the stupid name which the healer at Fifth Mine had helped him unlock. The bearded bastard had been quite pleased about the ability’s uselessness.

  How stupid. Far from useless, Helping Hand was overpowered.

  In this instance, it would help Cheater kill.

  He was about to start a mass production operation of his very own. Producing corpses.

  “Keep track, boys. Number go up,” Cheater mumbled as he took Colt’s pistol.

  Chapter 32

  Life Nine. Corpsulence

  The gibbet holding Clown refused to budge. It did not respond to any of its control buttons. When Cheater tried to pull the cable manually, the hoist mechanism ground its teeth in protest, and a piece of metal fell out and clanged against the cage.

  Well, that was probably important.

  Cheater frowned. “Looks like the shrapnel damaged something. I can’t get the cage down.”

  Clown put on his usual depressed face. “I’m always getting into shit. Unlucky. Just kill me, then, and I’ll find you when I come back.”

  Cheater shook his head. “No, you can’t die yet. The show is just beginning, and you have a front row seat. You love interesting shows, remember?”

  Clown grunted. “What are you up to?”

  “Many things,” Cheater said distantly as he lifted the sleeve on his right forearm.

  Perhaps this would work out for the best. He had no time left to fuss with the cage; numerous steps could be heard on the stairs.

  Note: ID delay cancelled. Bracer cloak deactivated. Player ID confirmed. Object: immune. Humanity: low negative. Nickname: Kitty. Equipment
unknown. High probability of unknown Continental combat abilities.

  Note: A built-in bonus has been activate. Kitty receives +1 life.

  Note: Alert! The authorization system has detected external interference. Reinforcements are en route! Estimated time of the elite punisher’s arrival: 150–250 seconds.

  Excellent. Watershed had spoken truly. In three or four minutes, the cavalry would arrive to take the arm and head of the impudent thief.

  That would be an unpleasant moment, but in order to experience it fully, he would have to survive until then.

  Standing opposite the door, Cheater hurriedly consumed a Needle of Great Strength from his inventory. It had taken a whole cell, in which he could have concealed something much more valuable. Yet it was for cases like this he had kept it ready.

  This trophy from the Unnamed One gave a player the most powerful buff in the game, increasing all of his stats. It lasted 12 hours, usually, but in this case, it would last 24, thanks to Helping Hand. The skill had a special unlock at Willpower level 90 which sextupled the duration of any positive effect. It applied to effects from characters and from other sources, as well. However, the final duration could not exceed 24 hours.

  So, for exactly one day, Cheater had +20 to every stat. That did not increase his overall level, sadly, but it made him significantly stronger.

  Not that it would play a great role in the upcoming battle. No matter how high his stats, no player could maintain a prolonged battle with the garrison of a sizable fortress.

  Yet there were other benefits from Helping Hand.

  The lengthy buff from the needle was just the icing on the cake.

  Still smiling, Cheater used a Shard of Invulnerability. It was the very item which had saved Tat and him from death when the Unnamed One was slain. It gave 30 seconds of complete immunity to any and all effects. Now, Cheater would be genuinely safe from an atomic bomb.

  The Shard was, of course, also used during Helping Hand. That gave him three minutes of complete invulnerability, and he was surrounded by hundreds of unsuspecting opponents eager to take him down.