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

by Arthur Stone

  Something about no one in the history of the Continent ever managing to kill an Elite Nold. Thinking this would happen here and now, and so quickly, was naive.

  Cheater sensed something amiss, something new, something dangerous. He continued rummaging hopelessly through the corpse’s pockets, while squinting around at his surroundings.

  A man walked along the wall. He was tall and wore no black, and he walked with utter confidence. As if he was strolling a quiet boulevard in a peaceful riverside town.

  It was Romeo.

  Dammit.

  Cheater finally accepted the fact that no ammunition would be found. Bad corpse! Bad! Out of the corner of his eye, though, he did notice a piece of iron pipe in his enemy’s path. A very handy implement for breaking bones.

  In order to get it, though, he had to rush towards Romeo. Even if the player did not react to the charge, Cheater doubted that such a worthless weapon would be of any use in battle against him.

  Then, he at last remembered his plan for maximum damage to the fortress. He had forgotten it since striking his head so hard. Cheater tried activating Flash of Omniscience, just to be sure.

  Note: During a duel with warriors of the long-feral tribe of Shgrazqu, you cannot use character skills within 500 meters of your opponents. Items’ special abilities and properties will continue to function as usual.

  Everything was proceeding as planned. Player abilities did not work here. And even the Elite Nold’s countless skills are disabled! Perhaps that was how the anti-aircraft gunner brought it down. The invincible Nold had not expected its defenses to fail so completely.

  What now? The garrison was done, but the grays were a more interesting matter. Perhaps they could finish off such mighty enemies as these, as they cleared the duel area.

  He could dream. For now, he had Romeo to deal with. Tranquility would not stop him. No abilities worked, not even for the one who had summoned the duel.

  Everyone was equal.

  Cheater did not rush forward and attempt to grab the pipe. Instead, he began to crawl towards the wall. His leg was hurting from the bullet impact, but the bleeding did not seem too bad. Still, he made it look like he was worse than he was. He even contorted his face in a terrible grimace.

  Better that his enemy underestimate him than overestimate him.

  Once he reached his destination, Cheater raised his machine gun. It was empty, yes, but Romeo couldn’t know that.

  The man waved a hand clearly activated something that defended against or neutralized firearms. His other hand drew a long, thin sword. Some kind of rapier, perhaps.

  Then, Romeo froze, staring in surprise. He was obviously reading the message warning him that abilities did not work here.

  He stood in the perfect location. As if on command.

  Cheater lowered his left hand slightly. If his calculations were correct, the line between him and the familiar object revealed by Flash of Omniscience passed right through Romeo’s body. If he was mistaken, well, that would complicate the battle, but not necessarily lose it.

  He was not mistaken. Choppa obeyed the command and surged out of the pile of debris, flashing towards the two of them like lighting. It struck Romeo in the back so powerfully that its blade’s full length shot out of the front his chest. His body fell face forward. The sword insisted on its journey, escaping the wound and tearing Romeo nearly in half. Another moment later, and its hilt rested gently in the palm of Cheater’s hand.

  Cheater limped towards his defeated enemy. The man twitched like a broken mechanical doll, staring blindly up with uncomprehending eyes.

  Cheater stopped and looked down at Romeo, shaking his head. He shouted over the rumble of the battle. “So that’s the best you could do?”

  Choppa came crashing down.

  Note: You have already slain this great villain. Killing him again earns a smaller Humanity bonus.

  What did he care? It wasn’t the bonus that drove Cheater to kill the man.

  Everything had worked out beautifully. He doubted that Romeo knew what had done him in. Let him puzzle it out. The mystery will torture him for days.

  Pumping your stats by killing your worst enemy. What could be better?

  Cheater ascended the file of debris and at last emerged into the fortress’s courtyard. His position was a good one.

  The situation in the courtyard itself was hard to put into words. No one cared about Cheater anymore. Dozens of Bugle’s soldiers were firing in all directions, fighting the creatures flickering about like gray lightning. The desert inhabitants possessed incredible speed, and they used this to the fullest, flanking their enemies mercilessly. A wave of blade attacks would follow, and then they would move on to the next target.

  The largest of them could kill players with weaker nerves with little more than a glance. He was terrifying. Nearly eight feet tall, with a face straight out of a horror movie. In his paws, he held an absurdly long and massive spear. He did not even stab with it—just whirled it around in a circle, like a pinwheel. Arms, legs, and heads scattered in all directions. The creature ignored the bullets pouring in from all sides. Chop, chop, chop. Even point-blank shots did nothing.

  One of the grays jumped onto the tower of a smoking tank and started firing its light machine gun with one hand. It didn’t seem to hit anyone, but the gray was so enthusiastic that it let its forked tongue hang out of its mouth in excitement.

  A huge figure soared into the sky from the flames on the other side of the open space. It landed right on the tank tower, brutally crushing the gray beneath.

  Cheater had never seen such a thing before. Glittering mirror steel, along with brushed steel and bluish steel, covered in bright characters of some unknown language and, here and there, blinking lights. It look like a children’s toy, but blown up to size, and professionally made. It did have a humanoid shape, but it stood nine feet tall, and its limbs were absurdly long. In place of arms, it featured combat appendages with an extraordinary number of guns, among which large metallic hands could be seen.

  There it was. An Elite Nold. Medieval armor meets modern weaponry. The man inside was not visible at all.

  Perhaps there was no man. According to Watershed, no one had ever seen inside one of these creatures’ shells.

  The metal giant raised both hands, and his figure became the mouth of a volcano. Spewing a tongue of all-devouring flame, tracer bullets, grenades, small shells, and even some kind of fantastic energy projectiles which soared like tiny comets and were blinding to look at.

  Cheater shouted when a cluster of grenades exploded nearby. It was not dangerously close, but the heat and slowing metal shards sprinkled him. His clothes lit up with little lines of fire, reminding him vividly of his suffering in the desert.

  Hurryingly patting out the flames, Cheater jumped down and tried to rush to the right, along the protection of the very wall into which he had recently been slammed.

  Then, the piles of rubble seemed to come alive. First ablaze with an unearthly blue flame, as if a thousand LED light strips were coiled around each one, then scattered up and in all directions.

  Previously the remnants of the buildings here had given Cheater cover, but now there was nothing stopping him from seeing the whole courtyard—and the Elite Nold standing a few dozen yards away. No metal giant eyes were visible, only a black bezel encircling half of the angular helmet. But Cheater doubted that the creature’s gaze was directed at its prey.

  The giant crouched down, as if to jump.

  At that moment, it shuddered. The ugly beast had appeared behind it, out of nowhere, and used his spear’s classical stabbing motion for the first time.

  Driving the point into the Elite Nold’s back with all his strength.

  Flames and smoke poured out. The gray had clearly struck a vulnerable point, and quite intentionally. Briskly the Nold spun around, opening fire from all of its weaponry once again. It fired a continuous circle, chasing the gray leader as it ran in a circle, killing smaller grays an
d the players still miraculously alive as it went.

  Cheater screamed again. A piece of rebar tossed free from an explosion flew in and brutally slammed into his healthy leg. Pain darkened his vision. He failed to even notice the chunk of brick slamming into his jaw, smashing his lips and teeth. Still screaming, he bent down and pulled the piece of iron rebar out, tearing meat and blood vessels as it went.

  The pain was unbearable, a hundred times worse than a bullet.

  Tears flooded his eyes and nose and face. Cheater raised his head, and saw the Nold again. Once more, the metallic giant had frozen. It was not as impressive now—smoking noticeably, and flooded with streams of foam from its fire suppression system. Smoke still billowed from its rear, but Cheater had no doubt that nothing fatal had been inflicted.

  The Nold looked at Cheater again. Cheater looked at the Nold. This was his time. None had survived the fortress extermination. Even the leader of the grays lay dead, his mutilated body thrown back to the edge of the parade ground.

  Any survivors were fleeing the scene at all possible speed. Cheater thought that it would be nice to flee with them. Far, far away. But he was here, and the Nold was before him, holding a massive sword over his head.

  This was it. The Nold extended his right arm, and a steel blade popped out of it.

  It looked like a giant scalpel, and its purpose was clear.

  The metal giant approached and crouched down.

  As did Cheater.

  Then, the Nold with its characteristic agility soared a dozen yards forward in an instant, blade extended. Cheater realized it would land five paces from him, and execute its purpose here in two clean swings. He waited.

  One last ace was up his sleeve.

  The gray tribe was, after all, destroyed. The duel was cancelled. This meant that abilities should work again. He could check by using Flash of Omniscience, but he did not know what powers of observation his opponent might have. The knowledge that Continental magic worked again would cause him to reactivate his impervious defensive shield. Then, Cheater would have no chance.

  He activated Tranquility an instant before the Nold landed.

  His target: the creature’s upper chest. The machine’s arms should, in part, fall within the ability’s sphere of influence, rendering his opponent utterly helpless.

  No warning message appeared. The metal giant slammed to a halt in the air, as if hoisted up by some invisible crane. The armor’s construction groaned at the sudden g-forces. His legs stretched out as if trying to execute a Russian split.

  Cheater screamed in a great, final effort, leaping forward so that he would surge between the creature’s legs. At the same time, he activated his sword’s Crushing Blow. The blade became engulfed in blue flame and crashed into the Nold’s groin, penetrating nearly a yard deep as it sliced, feeling not the slightest resistance.

  He landed behind the giant and screamed again—this time, from the pain in his destroyed legs. His knees, and then his nose, slammed into the ruptured asphalt.

  First, though, he saw what he needed to. The sword, freely passing through Nold’s groin and abdomen, had not pulled only itself free at the end of its voyage. Wires, bolts, and chunks of metal and plastic poured out after it.

  Along with skin, blood, and guts.

  He recalled the perk’s description.

  At its owner’s command, this weapon can inflict a Crushing Blow, releasing energy accumulated in the blade. This blow ignores every opposition, except special properties of objects or creatures that specifically resist this property. Crushing Blow can only be used once every 10 hours.

  Watershed had been right. This was no robot. It was some kind of advanced suit, containing a person or some other type of being.

  A vulnerable being.

  Choking on blood welling up from somewhere in his throat, Cheater turned, agony wracking his body, and saw the huge figure fall flat, as if its power cord had been pulled from its socket.

  Without a moment’s delay, the System showed a victory message.

  Note: Personal victory! Elite Warrior of the First Nold Corps slain. Congratulations!

  The victory was won by you personally, but as part of a party. All other players in your party score a party victory!

  Note: The players Kitty and March are too far from the party. This victory counts as theirs, but their rewards will be reduced. The players Cheater, Kitty, March, and Clown will be congratulated in the global achievement feed, and all players will be notified in the special event chat.

  Congratulations to you and your party members! You succeeded despite insurmountable obstacles. You receive +3 to your life counter; +17000 base stat progress points; +23000 bonus stat progress points; +0.17 to any multiplier you select (or divided among multiple multipliers); +5000 Humanity; +5 primary personal inventory cells, +71 grams primary personal inventory cell weight; +330 grams personal inventory special cell weight, which can include any unbound items without limits (with the exception of loot items from monsters); +2250 grams personal cache weight; +620 grams personal cache special cell weight. You receive a special perk: Underwater Breathing! You can be underwater for up to 5 minutes without feeling the slightest difficulty from lack of breath. After 5 minutes, breath calculations are made as though you had dived in at the 5 minute mark, without this perk. This also works when holding your breath in the presence of poisonous air, or when manually activating the perk.

  Note: This is your third global achievement! Bonus: +3 bonus levels to all stats.

  Note: For the first time in the history of the Continent, a player has defeated an Elite Nold. A great individual achievement! An incredible party achievement!

  Note: The players Kitty and March are too far from the party. This victory counts as theirs, but their rewards will be reduced. The players Cheater, Kitty, March, and Clown will be congratulated in the global great achievement feed, and all players will be notified in the special event chat.

  Note: This is your first great achievement! Bonuses: +5 to your life counter; +25000 universal progress points; upgraded bonus effects for all abilities; every 300 days, you can perform a region rebinding countdown reset (for yourself and/or for other players). When those involved agree, their counter until their next region change resets and counts from 1 to 20, at which point region change occurs. This features seems especially useful for your situation.

  Judging by the length of the text, he had just received a lot of bonuses. He did not want to study the details now.

  He had no strength left.

  Cheater squinted at the metal carcass. A pool of blood, and something like oil, was gathering underneath.

  The monster was definitely dead. Cheater hoped feverishly that he would not have to deal with a new Nold.

  Note: You have completed the quest given to you by Watershed. You have dealt tremendous damage to the fortress and its garrison. Now, Watershed’s allies will be able to take the fortress themselves. Note: You have completed the quest without knowledge of its conditions! Your reward is tripled. You receive: +33000 universal progress points, distributable to base or bonus stats; +48 distributable meter points; +0.03 to all base and bonus stat modifiers. Congratulations!

  Cheater was surprised.

  Unpleasantly surprised.

  That was all? Watershed was cunning, after all. He had promised that the reward would be more than generous. Only the triple bonus made the quest prize worth anything at all. Without it, the reward would clearly not be commensurate with the difficulty of the task.

  A fortress like this was worth a lot more than this reward. Even when tripled.

  Cheater sensed something unusual and raised his right hand. It was suspiciously free feeling. The Nold bracer was no longer dug into his skin at a dozen different places. It could be freely removed.

  Inspect mode revealed a new description. The bracer was fully activated and now had a set of useful properties, with several slots for mods.

  The properties were delicious. At any other time
, Cheater would have whistled at what he saw. After all that had transpired, though, he did not feel the slightest emotion.

  He was deathly weary. On autopilot, he read the bonuses.

  Note: The System has added to your quest: Destroy the fortress arsenal. Primary condition: none of the nuclear warheads can survive. Quest reward: 1 ability of your choice, from a list of 20 abilities; +20 bonus levels to any stat you choose (base or bonus); you regain the Shgrazqu Challenge Token.

  Quest deadline: 60 minutes.

  Hint: Nuclear munitions can easily be disabled by mechanical or thermal stress.

  Cheater spat out a broken tooth and grinned sadly. He had reached the point where the System was writing quests for him.

  What an honor.

  * * *

  The gibbet crashed to the concrete. Its door flew off upon the impact, saving them the trouble of getting it open. Several rotten heads rolled out, followed by Clown. He was filthy, rancid, bloodied—but alive. As he lay on his back, he stared into the smoky skies. In the calm voice of a person overwhelmed by hysteria, he asked, “Are we waiting for anyone else, or is that it?”

  Cheater spat out another tooth, along with a mouthful of blood. “I don’t think so.”

  Clown sighed, at peace. “Now, I’ve seen everything.”

  “Uh-huh,” Cheater nodded. “And you had a VIP seat.”

  “It was a good view,” Clown agreed. “How are we still alive?”

  “I’m not sure, but I don’t feel so great. You don’t look like you do, either. We can fix that.”

  “How?” Clown asked, uninterested.

  “Bugle’s office is pretty much intact. I looked around it with my Omniscience ability. It’s got my stuff in there, and spec, and some regeneration cores. We can heal up.”