Death's Revenge: A LitRPG Sci-Fi Adventure (Venus Online 5)

by Jeremy Zenith

  Grace and Billy threw their hands up and cheered.

  With the office door back in place, Suzanne dragged her desk in front of it to block it. That done, she quickly wrapped Trent's wrists and ankles with the rope, and pasted a length of tape over his mouth.

  Taking a step back, she realized she enjoyed the thought of murdering her husband. She wondered if killing someone in real life would feel as good as it did in the game.

  She climbed back onto her VR pod's chair and felt a shiver as she remembered the pieces he had torn from it. She didn't know enough about it to tell if he had done any real damage. She could only hope it still worked.

  She closed her eyes.

  The real world melted away and she felt a rushing sensation before her throne room popped back up around her. She glanced down at her sexy, beautiful body. Everything was back to normal.

  The throne room began moving again with its waving flags and General Worr waiting in front of her.

  She raised her hand, falling back into the role of Lady Necralia as she left off. "Very well, General Worr. You'll have your chance. But if General Deth fails me, you had better be prepared to work twice as hard."

  Worr bowed his head. "Your Majesty, I will not fail you."

  Chapter 17

  BYRON STARED at Lieutenant General Magott, frozen at the sight of her gun pointed at his head. "What are you doing?"

  Magott smirked. "What does it look like? I'm stealing your ship and the code."

  He held up his hands, trying to think of a way out of this. All their guns were out of ammo. They had no more grenades. Maybe he could talk his way out. "Look, we can all escape together. You don't have to do this."

  Magott shrugged. "Actually, I do. If I show up at the Resistance with you all, they'll arrest me and have me executed for war crimes. I need to make a deal with them, and the shield code is my bargaining chip. I think it's worth a full pardon."

  Silica grumbled, "I warned you."

  Byron ignored her. "I'll talk to them. Tell them how you helped us. I'm sure they'll--"

  "They'll what?" Magott snarled. "You have no idea what I've done, how many I've tortured and killed, but the Resistance does. It doesn't matter what you say. Without that code, I'm a dead woman."

  "Fine. Take the code. But we can all escape on the ship."

  "No, we can't. I know General Deth. He wants you, and he'll tear this Galaxy apart to get you. If you come with me, the hunt continues, but if I escape by myself and leave you here, he'll let me go. He'll hunt me down later, but this gives me a head start."

  Byron looked back at the other women. "Okay, then just take them. Leave me here. There's no reason for them to die."

  Magott shrugged and flashed a quiet smile. "Sorry. That makes a lot of sense, but in case you haven't noticed, I'm a cold-hearted bitch. Now I'm done talking. Give me the crystal or I start shooting."

  She pointed the gun at Chetaara.

  He tried one last ditch effort. "You can't take the data crystal. It has Scarlett's matrix on it."

  "That might be valuable to them as well. And you can't seriously believe I'd take pity on a bloody robot. Now this conversation is over."

  She shot Byron in his right arm.

  As Byron clutched his arm that exploded in pain, she yelled, "Give me the data crystal!"

  Chetaara let out a roar as she rushed to his side.

  Xana held up the crystal. "Okay, okay, here."

  Magott snatched the crystal from her hand. "Thank you so much."

  "You won't get away with this," Byron growled.

  "Yeah." Kiki jabbed a finger at her. "We're totally gonna find you, and get that code back, and kill you."

  Magott smiled. "That assumes you'll survive to do so. Now drop the shield around the ship or I will kill Byron."

  Xana held her hands up in submission as she backed over to the Icarus. When she came to the force field around the ship, she made a gesture with her hand against it, and the field collapsed with an audible thump.

  Magott backed away, keeping her pistol at his head while she boarded the ramp. When she made her way to the top of the ramp, she ducked inside the airlock and slammed it shut.

  "I warned you," Silica rumbled again.

  Xana snapped, "Okay, let it go."

  Chetaara used her healing power on Byron's arm, but he barely noticed. He just kept watching as the engines of the Icarus ignited, and sent the ship hovering up into the air. The starship turned in place and headed for the force field.

  As he watched the Icarus fly out of the hangar, Byron wanted to feel sorrow and rage, but he just felt empty. He had lost most of the prisoners who had followed him, his faithful robot Scarlett, and now his prized and upgraded spaceship, the Icarus. The loss of the shield code also took away his chance to stop Lady Necralia. It seemed like things couldn't get worse.

  Of course, they did.

  Just as the Icarus plunged into swirling hyperspace, flared, and vanished, the doors at the edges of the hangar opened and Death Troopers came pouring in. They surrounded him, rifles drawn and aimed at Byron and his team.

  General Deth came striding in after them with a huge smile on his gaunt face. "Well done, Jones. I had my doubts you would get here successfully, but you defied all expectations. Yet I'm afraid your journey has come to an end."

  Byron shook his head. "Not even close, Deth."

  "Oh, quite so. I was watching when Lieutenant General Magott took the data crystal and your ship." Deth chuckled. "To be honest, I expected it. Did you really think she would be loyal to you? I know her all too well. It may comfort you to know that once we reach Necros, I'll track her down, have her killed painfully, and get the shield code back."

  He rubbed his hands together at a brisk pace. "As for you, we could kill you now, but it seems a waste to let the Hulk Troopers go unused. Let's give them a good workout, eh?"

  Byron opened his mouth to ask what the hell Deth was talking about when he heard it.

  Booming thuds rang out that he realized were massive footsteps. As they drew closer to the hangar, the soldiers at the east side of the hangar parted to form a column.

  Three Necrosi soldiers walked into the hangar, at least eleven feet tall and almost as wide. With huge arms and lumpy faces, they seemed like gigantic gorilla corpses brought to life. They all wore armor plating and carried chainguns in their hands as easily as pistols. Huge tanks on their backs hissed, pumping something through tubes to their arms and chests. The brutish Death Troopers lumbered through the soldiers with their eyes locked on Byron.

  Chetaara took a step back. "By the gods, Master."

  Byron held out his hand towards her. "Take it easy." He didn't feel as confident, but he had to stay calm for their sakes.

  Deth pointed up at the soldiers. "Do you like them? I had our good Doctor Morg break them out special, just for you so I could play a little game. Here's what's going to happen. We'll reach Necros in roughly twenty minutes. Either these Hulk Troopers will kill you and your death will be more than justified when Lady Necralia sees the destruction you've caused aboard my ship. Or we'll have a few minutes of sport and I'll blow up the ship before we land on Necros. Don't worry about me. I'll leave here on my private cruiser, safe and sound. Either way, this is the end of you. Goodbye, Jones. I hate you more than you could possibly imagine."

  Deth spun on the heel of his boot, and charged off through the crowd of soldiers towards an exit.

  The Hulk Troopers stayed behind, looming high over the other soldiers. The giants raised their arms and let out a roar that shook Byron's bones and echoed through the hangar. The other Death Troopers clapped and cheered while the massive soldiers attacked. It felt like a gladiatorial show, except Byron was in the arena.

  OBJECTIVE: DEFEAT HULK TROOPERS

  REWARDS: 10,000 XP, 34,000 CREDITS

  One of the Hulk Troopers yelled, "Kill little man and girls!"

  The three giants fired their chainguns, unleashing a stream of bullets that ripped through t
he crowd. Death Troopers fell to pieces in the path of the incoming fire, but the Hulks never stopped their assault.

  "Watch out," Byron yelled as the chainguns sliced towards the four girls.

  Byron and the women scattered. He ran through the other Death Troopers, using them as a shield him from the fire. Xana touched her collar and turned invisible. Kiki did backflips over the heads of the Death Troopers, sailing out of the line of fire. Chetaara threw lightning bolts at the Hulk Troopers, but the massive warriors didn't even seem to feel them.

  Silica staggered back from the bulletstorm, and her health bar dropped again, leaving her only a third left. That still impressed Byron, considering he would have been cut to ribbons by the gunfire.

  "You have no honor," Silica roared.

  This wouldn't last long. The chainguns of the Hulk Troopers were way too powerful for them to attack directly. Byron felt his heart quicken as he realized he might not make it past these monsters.

  Byron tried to remember his video game rules. Every powerful enemy had a weakness. He just had to figure it out.

  After a few seconds of the chaingun attack, all three weapons glowed red and powered down. The Hulk Troopers roared and shook their weapons as if trying to get them to fire again.

  The first thing Byron did was kick the nearest Death Trooper, grab his rifle, shoot the soldier in the head and turn the rifle on one of the Hulk Troopers. The Hulk Trooper just looked annoyed by the laser attack, and charged at Byron like a bull. The laser bolts just bounced off its armor and even its bare face. Its health bar didn't even drop.

  Byron's throat tightened. How could he stop these things if he couldn't even hurt them? He didn't have any more grenades, and he wondered if those would even slow these things down.

  He tried not to panic and think. The Hulk Trooper was strong and seemed immune to gunfire, but it was slow. Byron used his speed to run around the Hulk Trooper in circles, firing at everything on its body. There had to be a weakness.

  One of his shots hit the huge soldier in the tank on its back. For the first time, the Hulk Troopers health bar dropped. At the same time, the Hulk Trooper roared and staggered back. For a few seconds, the trooper stumbled around, shaking its head. It recovered and began firing its chaingun again.

  Byron had the answer. The chainguns required a few seconds to cool down after every attack. That left them vulnerable. They also were weakest in the back.

  "Hit them in the back!" he yelled. "In the tank!"

  The other girls had managed to get laser rifles of their own and picked up the assault on the Hulk Troopers, but the giant chainguns had cooled down by then.

  The chainguns rattled as they cut through the Imperial army again. The Death Troopers who remained in the hangar ran around, trying to find somewhere they could watch the fight without getting hit themselves. Most of them failed, screaming as bullets riddled them.

  Byron ran up to one soldier, shot him in the head, and jumped onto the soldier's back as he fell. Using the Death Trooper like a step ladder, Byron leaped into the air and onto the back of the Hulk Trooper he had shot.

  The Hulk Trooper began to buck like a bull, but Byron hung onto its metal collar with one hand. With his other hand, he swung his rifle to pump shots into the Hulk's tank. The giant's health bar quickly collapsed as the tank cracked open, and began to spray sparks and a red fluid.

  The Hulk Trooper staggered as smoke hissed out of the tubes on its body. Glowing red cracks formed in its armor that spread down its massive body.

  Byron jumped off the Hulk Trooper, landed on his feet, and ran for it.

  The Hulk Trooper exploded. The blast sent dozens of Death Troopers scattering across the hangar. It threw Byron across the room.

  When the smoke cleared, the Hulk Trooper had been disintegrated, leaving only its massive chaingun behind.

  "No," one of the Hulk Troopers roared. "Brother go boom!"

  Byron landed on his side, skidded on the polished metal floor, and felt some relief. Now he only had two juggernauts to deal with, but he knew how to handle them.

  He ran over and tried to pick up the chaingun, but it was so heavy he couldn't even move it. So much for that.

  The two remaining Hulk Troopers swung up their chainguns and released another volley across the hangar. Chetaara and Kiki kept firing their guns while the gunfire sprayed over them.

  Bullets slammed into Silica's leg, and she cried out, falling to one knee. "No!"

  Byron noticed long wires hung over the hangar, and it gave him an idea. He ran to Chetaara, yelling, "Think you can reach that?"

  She looked up and nodded. "Indeed, Master!"

  Chetaara ran towards one of the empty boarding ramps left behind. He didn't think she would reach the wire, even with the ramp, but she jumped six feet straight up to grab the wire. It snapped, swinging her down over the nearest Hulk Trooper.

  She let out a yell as she swung from the rope into the mammoth soldier's path. The wire stretched across its neck, and she let it wrap around to choke the trooper. It fell to its knees, gagging.

  As the Hulk Trooper reached up to snap the wire, Silica found the strength to jump onto his back. Byron thought she would shoot it, but instead, Silica punched her stone fist into the tank.

  The Hulk Trooper roared as steam hissed from its pipes, red lines crawled over its arms and chest, and Silica leaped off just as the tank exploded. More soldiers went flying, and pieces of the Hulk's armor tore through the air like shrapnel.

  "One left," Byron yelled.

  "No more!" the last Hulk Trooper roared.

  As the final Hulk Trooper turned to face Byron, Xana reappeared behind it, naked and swinging a butcher knife. She scaled up the Trooper's leg like a mountain climber, stabbed the tank, and dove off as it burst. The detonation scattered the bodies of the Death Troopers all over the hangar.

  When the smoke cleared, the three Hulk Troopers and every other soldier in the hangar was dead. Only Byron and his four girls remained.

  OBJECTIVE COMPLETED

  10,000 XP

  34,000 CREDITS

  As Byron took a deep breath to try to calm down, the computer spoke above them. "Self-destruct in ten minutes."

  He closed his eyes. "Can't we just get a break?"

  Chapter 18

  THE WOMEN gathered around him, all carrying laser rifles, and breathed hard.

  Chetaara looked deep into Byron's eyes. "Master, what is our next step?"

  He shook his head. "There's only one way off the ship now. Deth's personal cruiser. We have to get aboard it before he does. And we don't have time to be subtle."

  He had held back on using his most powerful NRG program, the Strongman code. It boosted his strength to inhuman levels but when it wore off, it left his implant shut down for twenty-four hours. He thought this time, it would be worth it.

  He looked up at his NRG menu and activated his strongman code.

  It felt like hot lead poured through his veins instead of blood, causing them to swell and surge. He grit his teeth as the rush of power flowed through him.

  Byron charged over to the chainguns the Hulk Troopers left behind. This time, he could pick them up easily. He hoisted one in each hand, and swung them up to aim at the door General Deth went through. The women all gasped at the sight of him with the massive weapons.

  "Which way?" Byron snarled.

  Xana picked up Magott's fallen tablet and swiped to the ship's schematic. "That way. It's just off the main hangar. We can go through--"

  "No time." Byron swung the chainguns at the wall she pointed at, and pulled the triggers.

  The guns roared while spraying bullets into the wall, shredding it like cardboard. The bullets cut a hole that let him run through it.

  He entered a smaller hangar with a single black starship parked in it. The starship looked beautiful, as sleek as a motorboat with wings that curved up like a bird. It had to be General Deth's cruiser.

  As he entered, Byron faced what looked like a gigantic
robot lurching at them. It seemed like something out of Robotech or some other Japanese anime. Its boxy arms ended in rocket tubes instead of hands, and General Deth's head stuck out of the neck, smiling at him through a transparent dome.

  "Ah, Mister Jones," Deth shouted. "I knew I couldn't rely on anyone else to kill you. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

  OBJECTIVE: DEFEAT GENERAL DETH

  REWARDS: 50,000 XP, 50,000 CREDITS

  Deth raised the metal arms and launched six rockets at Byron. Byron dove out of the way, and the rockets smashed into the wall behind him.

  The explosion made the wall collapse. For a moment, he saw Silica and the other girls calling and reaching to him, but the chunks of metal and stone blocked them out, leaving Byron and Deth alone in the hangar.

  Of course. It seemed like every time Byron faced a boss character, he faced them alone.

  Deth swung the arms up. "Do you like it? A little toy from my good friend, Doctor Morg. He warned me it would drive me mad, but I feel better than ever."

  Byron picked up his chainguns. "That's because you're already insane!"

  "Interesting theory." Deth raised his arms and launched more rockets at him.

  Byron leaped to his left, almost flying from the added strength in his legs. The rockets tore apart the floor where he had been standing, and the blast threw him higher into the air.

  "Need to work on your aim!" On his way down, Byron's chainguns howled, gushing bullets into Deth's exoskeleton.

  The giant robot staggered back, but Deth's health bar only dropped by a few points.

  General Deth was what was known in the gaming world as a bullet sponge. He just took a beating without losing health at all.

  Deth burst out laughing. "Oh, this is glorious. I should have put this on a long time ago. Let's try this."

  He looked down as if at something out of view.

  Small hatches on the shoulders of the exoskeleton popped open, and metal spheres the size of golf balls floated out of them. Byron thought they might be some sort of grenade until the spheres started to hover in the air. Then they swooped down on him. As they did, laser beams flashed from the spheres, again and again. He grit his teeth from the burning sensation as his health bar dropped.