Vortena

by Neven Iliev

  Just in time, too, as Boxxy spotted a troop of ten or so fully armed and armoured dwarves pouring in from one of the side chambers. It re-opened its pocket dimension and withdrew two of the Big Bang Balls it had prepared in advance, triggering the Spell Crystals and tossing them into the pack of dwarves. The resulting high-powered magical explosions turned the Honeydew Cartel’s reinforcements into a fine red paste before they could even react.

  [Level up!]

  [Congratulations, you are now a Level 35 Warlock! INT +2. MNT +2. END +2.]

  Wasting no time, Boxxy dropped to the ground and skittered through the same door from which the apparent reinforcements had come. This appeared to be a sort of armoury, the walls lined with weapons and armour sets. Several of the slower dwarves were still gearing up, but it had no intention of allowing them to finish. It dashed through the room, slitting throats and severing spines with every movement of its dagger-wielding tentacles. Once they had all been dealt with, it quickly gobbled up the corpses and returned to the main chamber, where the battle had already ended.

  On the whole, it was another relatively easy victory, just as Boxxy had anticipated. Except for that speed bump where it had lost nearly all of its MP due to an unlucky Chaotic Disposition. It wondered if one of these days it might not just hit a ‘Your HP has been depleted’ notification and simply die on the spot.

  … No, that probably wouldn’t happen. Surely even the whimsical God of Happenstance wouldn’t give his Hero a Skill that would outright kill it. On second thought, that was exactly the kind of thing that Wilberforce would do. Knowing him, there was probably an incredibly tiny chance that would bring him no small measure of entertainment should it actually happen. Then again, Chaotic Disposition’s effects were always temporary, so maybe instant suicide couldn’t be part of the deal.

  Boxxy hastily decided that the latter possibility was more probable and that there was really nothing to worry about, though it would look into ways to control or stifle the ability.

  Just in case…

  It shifted its attention to the remnants of the criminal organisation that it had just dismantled. Three of the dwarves were still alive and were currently being restrained by Kora, just as her master had instructed. Thirty or so corpses were strewn about the area, and a quick check-in with Xera revealed that only two of the dwarves had tried to run and been summarily burned to ash. The other entrance appeared to still be sealed shut, so it didn’t seem as though any witnesses had escaped.

  In short, the underground compound was now under its complete control. Boxxy instructed Kora and Fizzy to keep an eye on the three captives to make sure that they didn’t die just yet, then quickly searched all the rooms at the edge of the large chamber for noteworthy loot. Other than the armoury, there was a warehouse containing a number of unmarked crates, a well-stocked pantry brimming with fresh food and good drink, and several sleeping commons that held beds for at least eighty people.

  That last one was a bit worrying, as it likely meant that there were still quite a few of the cartel people on the outside doing drug runs, or whatever it was they did. Boxxy didn’t fret too much, though. It was planning to leave town once it was done with this place anyway, so a few rats still scurrying about were of no real concern. It had tracked down and assassinated Grimebeard before commencing its attack, so it really had no reason to stick around once it had wrapped things up here.

  And thus, the warehouse was looted, the food in the pantry devoured, the corpses diligently absorbed or eaten and anything else of value stolen. Overall, the haul was a rather disappointing 2,400 GP worth of coins and valuables, much lower than the haul it had gotten from the Carran massacre. Still, Boxxy had been able to get in a lot of infiltration practice and its Storage was filled with a number of interesting substances, so it was hardly a bad day.

  Actually, wasn’t its day going almost too smoothly? The last time it had had so much good fortune in a single day, it had been captured, imprisoned, and had its Warlock Job taken by force. Fearing a backswing of bad luck, Boxxy stopped wasting time and moved on to the last thing it would need to do in the Lodrak Empire.

  Right here, on the edge of town, it would perform a certain demonic ritual. That was why it had been so adamant about keeping a few of the dwarves alive – the ritual demanded a sacrifice of three lives. The ceremony itself was a bit complicated since it involved a bunch of dancing in addition to the weird chanting and squiggly blood sigils, but Boxxy was confident that it could pull it off. This would hardly be its first time performing this sort of ritual, after all.

  The tricky part was making sure that it had a clear escape route before performing the Offering to Liusolra.

  Part Seven

  The door leading onto the roof of the restaurant known as The Cracked Flagon flung open and a figure stepped out into the night. Boxxy surveyed the town from its reasonably high vantage point, noting that it had gone almost entirely dark. Unsurprising, considering that the sun had already set hours ago.

  Dealing with the Honeydew Cartel to a satisfyingly thorough degree had taken longer than expected. Not only infiltrating and exterminating them, but also ransacking their hideout beneath the dining establishment. There were a lot of crates and boxes to rummage through – too many to fit into even the monster’s house-sized Storage. It therefore had had to decide on the shiniest bits to bring along, which was what had taken most of the time.

  In the end, Boxxy had decided to load up on all the decent arms and armour that it could find. The intel Xera had gotten from the dwarf called Tubbs had indicated that they could be sold for a good price across the border, unlike the shipments of illicit narcotics. The shapeshifter had taken two crates’ worth of Honeydew-filled glass jars, however. Not because it wanted to sell or eat them, but simply because they were shiny. The thick liquid had a radiant golden colour that glittered dazzlingly when bathed in light, so the creature had happily added the four dozen jars to its ever-expanding collection.

  It had still had some room left in its Storage, so it had taken the opportunity to raid the cartel’s food supplies. Most of them had been eaten, with the rest stored for later. Dried meats, grain crackers and preserved fruits weren’t all that tasty, but they were more than capable of sating its hunger. Not to mention that, if the shapeshifter wanted to disguise itself as a person, it would need to get used to eating the same foods that they did.

  Boxxy had also made a point of taking six kegs of ale in accordance with Fizzy’s input. According to her, the alchemically-brewed dwarven beer was so valuable that it wasn’t an exaggeration to call it ‘liquid gold.’ A purely metaphorical statement, of course, as Honeydew was significantly closer to the literal interpretation of that shiny-sounding comparison.

  And now that the looting was over, the shapeshifter looked hopefully up at the night sky, but wasn’t particularly surprised to see that there weren’t enough moons. Boxxy had asked around and discovered that all three of the giant glowing things would only appear simultaneously once every few months. The event, known as the Lunar Convergence, would last for only about five or six hours at most, and its next occurrence would take place in about a month.

  It looked as though Boxxy would be unable to attempt the Unholy Wealth ritual for quite some time, which was disappointing. Gathering and preparing all the necessary components and tools for the ritual in order to perform the ceremony at a moment’s notice had ultimately been pointless. At the very least, the ritual required a material sacrifice rather than a living one, so it wouldn’t have to concern itself with live captives when the time came.

  That thought was for later, however, as tonight it would be performing the Offering to Liusolra. The ceremony, much like the Offering to Nagnamor, would allow one of the four demonic Overlords to manifest in the physical realm, albeit only for a few minutes. It wanted to do it right on the edge of a populated settlement as, prior to its capture, it had deduced that in order to raise its Demonology Skill Level, it needed to do more than simply
perform the rituals. It had to utilise them fully, which in the context of the Offerings meant forcing, persuading, or otherwise goading the Overlord into doing what the Warlock wanted.

  So long as that included something more… impactful than simply demanding that the demon punch themselves in the face over and over again.

  In other words, as long as it could coerce Liusolra into running wild through the town, it was sure to gain a significant amount of Demonology Proficiency. Of course, it also had to make sure that it wouldn’t be stomped flat by an irate Overlord, which was why the rooftop would serve as the ideal ritual site. Not only was it flat and large enough to house the demonic markings, but it also meant that Boxxy would be able to make a run for it by jumping off and using the buildings for cover. That, and summoning an Overlord underground seemed awfully counterproductive when the goal was for the demon to rampage through the town.

  Come to think of it, would Liusolra even be like that? True, Punchy had tried to squash the little box into goop almost immediately, but that could have been because he was the most powerful archfiend in the Beyond. That alone was enough to make him the avatar of irritability, aggression and violence. It was unlikely that all the Overlords were so destructive, right?

  … Actually, if it wanted insider information on the inner workings of the Beyond’s hierarchy, didn’t it already have not one, but two familiars that it could ask?

  With that in mind, Boxxy turned to face its minions, who had followed it onto the roof.

  “What’s Liusolra actually like?” it asked curiously.

  Kora, who was carrying a bound and gagged dwarf under three of her four arms, shrugged in ignorance.

  “Dunno. I’ve heard of the name, but nothing about what they’re like.”

  “How can you not know about Liusolra?” Xera asked incredulously. “Did you have your head up your ass the whole time you were in the Beyond?”

  “Funny thing about that, actually-”

  “It was a rhetorical question, you idiot,” the succubus interrupted, shaking her head. “I don’t actually want to know.”

  “Snack, do you know this guy?”

  “Not personally, Master, but I have heard of her. Liusolra is the eldest of the Overlords and the most reclusive. Very few demons have actually spoken to her, even among her peers or kin.”

  “And what type of demon is she?”

  “I don’t know her exact species, but she’s said to be the first stalker.”

  “Oh, one of those, huh?”

  Stalkers were an arachnid species of anti-magic specialists. The lore gleaned from Demonology had informed Boxxy that they were cold and calculating, wanting nothing more than to devour anything in their path for their own enjoyment. They also enjoyed skulking around dark places and didn’t appreciate being seen, so it made sense that Liusolra would live a hermit-like existence despite her station.

  “Think I can reason with her?” Boxxy moved on to the meat of the matter.

  “I would advise against it, Master,” Xera shook her head. “Her kin can be just as violent and selfish as any other demon.”

  “I see… So, summon and run would be best, huh?”

  “Indeed.”

  “What are you two nodding about over there?” Fizzy broke in.

  Not being privy to their telepathic communications, she had been left ignorant of the somewhat ominous conversation that had just transpired.

  “Nothing important,” Boxxy shook its head. “Just be sure that the prisoners don’t die until I need to sacrifice them.”

  The only conscious dwarf groaned and began to struggle against his bindings.

  “Yo, Titty McTitface!” the fiend raised her voice. “One of these guys woke up!”

  The succubus calmly turned around and placed a hand on the unfortunate dwarf’s cheek, knocking him out with her Sleep Spell. Pacifying them wasn’t to prevent their escape, as they certainly weren’t strong enough to escape both their bindings and Kora’s grip. However, it was possible that they would hurt themselves in their confusion or do something unhelpful like biting out their own tongues if they realised what Boxxy had in store for them. Xera couldn’t allow them to throw their lives away like that, not when her master had a better use for them.

  “By the way, boss, why don’t you just make an appo?” Kora suggested.

  “A what?”

  “An appointment. For a summoning.”

  “You can do that?” Xera asked in confusion.

  “Now who has her head up her ass?” Kora sneered. “That’s how things are normally done, aren’t they? You know, I heard the main reason uncle Naggy was so mad that one time was because you pulled him away from the bi-annual Five-Dimensional Tic Tac Toe Tournament. Probably would’ve gone down better if you’d scheduled it beforehand.”

  “Wait, isn’t that the one Queen Shridiaphrial managed to win a while back?”

  Shridiaphrial, the most powerful among the succubus-type demons as well as their self-proclaimed Queen, was also one of the four demonic Overlords. Boxxy recognised the name, as the Offering to Shridiaphrial was also one of the rituals it was aware of, but it had no intention whatsoever of performing that particular ceremony. A massive orgy demanding a literal cartload of semen to be prepared in advance was just too much work when compared to any of the others.

  “That’s the one,” Kora nodded. “Losing to the Queen Bitch herself was bad enough, but I’m told the way she won’t stop bragging about it is the worst part. As if finally breaking Uncle Naggy’s streak of three hundred and sixty two consecutive victories by winning on a fucking technicality is something to be proud of!”

  The two Overlords apparently had some sort of rivalry going on, and although Boxxy had no idea what ‘Five-Dimensional Tic Tac Toe’ was, the name alone sounded much too complicated for its mortal mind to comprehend. The fact that Punchy was good enough to beat the ultimate succubus in a battle of wits was quite impressive. But then, his performance always had been top-of-the-line.

  Plus, this provided some rather interesting insight into the inner workings of the Beyond. It made sense that Nagnamor would be pissed if he’d been pulled away from something fun. Then again, he’d probably rampage all on his own regardless of when, where or by whom he was summoned, so Boxxy didn’t particularly feel like fretting over it.

  “How do I make an appointment?” it asked.

  “Uh, good question,” Kora furrowed her brow in thought. “I only heard about it from one of my brothers, so I dunno how it actually works… Why not give Carl a call, have him figure it out?”

  “Oh! Great idea, Arms!”

  Now those were three words that Xera had never expected to hear in the same sentence. Then again, the two simpletons always seemed to be on a similar wavelength. One of violence, instant gratification and not thinking things through properly, but similar nonetheless.

  “Okay, I’ll be busy talking to Carl, so don’t bother me unless it’s an emergency,” Boxxy said out loud for Fizzy’s benefit. “Keep watch on those three, especially the one on the left. He’s awake and pretending to be asleep.”

  Its minions kept a watchful eye on the prisoners as Boxxy mind-dialed Demons ‘R’ Us.

  1-800-7355-9687-7685

  *Ring-ring*

  *Ring-ring*

  *Click*

  “Hello, you’ve reached Demons ‘R’ Us. My name is Carl and I’ll be- Oh, hey Boxxy!”

  “You knew it was me?”

  “Yeah, I asked the boss to install Caller ID so that I know when it’s you on the line.”

  “What’s a Caller ID? Is it tasty?”

  “Kind of, yeah,” Carl responded, having grown fairly fluent in Mimicanese as of late. “So, what can I help you with today, buddy?”

  “I want to make an appointment.”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  “I’m about to summon an unbound demon with a ritual. Arms said that appointments could be made ahead of time?”

  “Ohhh! Right
, those, of course. Sorry about that, it was an unusual request so it caught me a bit off guard.”

  “Really? Arms said that this was normal.”

  “Well, ‘normal’ isn’t the word I’d use. It’s proper procedure, yes, but it’s hardly common practice,” he explained. “Mortals rarely call us to ask about anything other than their contracts, you see. We don’t even hear from most after their first familiar’s been bound to them, either because they’re lazy or seem to think that we’ll suck their soul out through the connection or something.”

  “… Can you actually do that?”

  “We wouldn’t have a lot of clients if we did, you know.”

  “I see…”

  It made sense, in a way. Not only would dead Warlocks make for poor customers, but nobody would be willing to work with Demons ‘R’ Us if they gained a reputation for doing that. Boxxy didn’t fail to notice, however, that Carl had evaded the question of whether he could do that, but decided not to press the issue.

  “Alrighty then, who is it you want to make an appointment with?” the devil asked matter-of-factly.

  “Liusolra.”

  “Oh, another Overlord, huh?”

  *Tak taktak tak takatak*

  “And how will you be performing the summoning?”

  Boxxy briefly pondered the question. Were there other ways to call forth the demonic Overlords? That did seem to be the case, now that it thought back to the deal it had made to never summon Punchy again.

  “I’ll be doing the Offering.”

  “… You’re not using your familiars as collateral, right?” Carl asked sternly.

  “No.”

  “Okay, good. Just checking to make sure you didn’t forget.”

  *Tak tak taka-ta-tatak*

  “And when will you be planning on performing this Offering?”