Gloominess +4: The Cradle of Gods. A LitRPG series: Book 4

by Elian Tars

  Biergein suffered because of what they had already done, and because they wouldn’t be able to stop the greater evil. No matter how hard I tried to understand what exactly had happened earlier, when the “Gods of Righteousness” stood aside with their eyes closed, not interfering with Rheingeit’s business, I couldn’t. Those memories were out of reach to me. I could only see the pain of his tortured soul.

  Biergein thought of himself as a traitor and a weakling, and it was tearing him apart. On top of that, Archeus had lost…

  It took Rheingeit only one swing of his sword to break Archeus’s longsword in half and cut his chest.

  “Run,” Archeus wheezed as he collapsed onto the steps.

  But no one obeyed his order.

  “Die, traitor!!!” Urtia cried and rushed at Rheingeit. The God of All Kings didn’t even have to use his shield; a swing of his sword was enough to deal with the girl — that’s how much stronger he was than his enemies.

  “AAAA!!!” I roared and rushed at him, but stopped, feeling something slide over my throat.

  I coughed.

  It tasted of metal.

  Falling limply near my defeated friends, blood gushing out of my wound, I felt the unavoidable approach of death. But it wasn’t death that scared me and made me sad… The worst was that I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t redeem myself… I couldn’t protect my friends… I couldn’t protect what was dear to me…

  Our beautiful, sunny world…

  Falling into darkness, I felt something lift my body into the air and place it on something soft and feathery…

  “Biergein, let’s hurry!” A fair-haired girl with a dark complexion tugged at my hand.

  “I’m coming, Urtia, I’m coming,” I said against my will, using someone else’s voice.

  We were climbing up a winding staircase, and I didn’t like it at all. If before I had a feeling that my personality was split in two — one that still belonged to me and was trying to analyze what was going on, and the second, intertwined tightly with Biergein’s, that transmitted his thoughts and emotions to me — now I was split in three. Another part of me was still reliving the pain Biergein felt during the fight with Rheingeit’s group.

  The events looped. I was thrown back to the beginning again, but I knew what awaited Biergein and his friends in the near future.

  “Sorry I’m late, guys,” Archeus said without turning, and I immediately recalled his death and how Biergein felt at that moment. My heart sank as if it were made of lead.

  Damn it, so this was the true power of the Barrier... Loop after loop of the day when Biergein couldn’t change anything... And Zurtane’s doomsday...

  It was like the movie Groundhog Day… Though, having in mind how long the first memory lasted, it was more like “Groundhog Minute.”

  It wasn’t funny at all! Put a man in a loop without the possibility of changing or influencing anything and watch him go mad! Especially if all he feels are strong, negative emotions.

  “No need to apologize, Archeus,” said a tired voice from behind us.

  I needed to separate myself from it! I had to stop thinking about what was going on around me!

  Unfortunately, this was easier said than done. Beirgein’s thoughts and worries refused to let me go. I could barely make heads or tails of my own thoughts. Damn it… There’s Rheingeit again…

  I had no time to think during Biergein’s conversation with him. No matter how hard I tried to separate myself from my host, I couldn’t. The angrier he became, the less of “me” was left in his head. And when Archeus, Urtia and I fell…

  “Biergein, let’s hurry!” A fair-haired girl with a dark complexion tugged at my hand.

  “I’m coming, Urtia, I’m coming,” I said against my will, using someone else’s voice.

  Chapter 12

  The Mad God

  Why… Why couldn’t I just die?

  Die and… have rest.

  How many times have I already lost everything? How many times have I failed to save the world? Thirty times in a row? Forty?

  “…Rheingeit, accept my challenge. If I win, promise me that you’ll order your minions to stop destroying Zurtarne.”

  Now we’d all get killed again. And then it’d start all over again.

  Disgusting.

  Why did I go with the Old Man at all? Why did he need me to suffer? Didn’t he know what was waiting for us?

  “…Don’t you dare show me in a bad light if I lose. Though… That won’t be necessary. Let’s fight.”

  A few nightmarish seconds... And then back to the beginning again.

  “Biergein, let’s hurry!” A fair-haired girl with a dark complexion tugged at my hand.

  “I’m coming, Urtia, I’m coming…”

  What should I do?

  I didn’t know. No matter how many times I tried to take control of Biergein’s body, I couldn’t. I couldn’t even shout — my throat and vocal cords didn’t belong to me.

  Overcoming myself, going beyond the limits of my abilities — all of it was unavailable to me. At some point, I even thought about activating the Amulet of Righteousness, but I failed to do that, too. My own body, the one that was left in the real Zurtane, was out of my control.

  All I had was pain, fear, dismay and…

  Hate.

  Damn that Old Man! He brought me to this wilderness and then left me! Why did he take us with him? The only possible explanation was that he needed someone to distract the Mad God and make him waste his strength and energy! He surely didn’t make the Barrier out of thin air! Even divine energy had its limit! The Old Man had used us. And by the time he gets to Biergein, the latter will be a little bit weaker. Or a lot weaker… Who knew how much energy it took to drive more than ten high level sentient beings crazy?

  There were Rheingeit and his friends again... Once more, it became difficult to think. Biergein’s emotions were pushing me out…

  “Biergein, let’s hurry!”

  “I’m coming, Urtia, I’m coming…”

  Oh come on! Give it a rest! How many times will I have to relive this day?! What did I do to deserve this?!!

  I hated it!

  I had to calm down. My task was to endure as long as I could. I had to try to endure until the Old Man has dealt with the Mad God. Hate wouldn’t help me in reaching that goal. It clouded my mind. I didn’t need it.

  What did I need? Perhaps…

  Hope?

  That’d cloud my mind as well. But… It was better than hate.

  I had thought about it several “loops” ago. And hope didn’t help me much since then…

  You’re wrong, boy, spoke the familiar, drawling voice.

  My body was immediately filled with my own warmth, and my vision was covered with Darkness. Once it had consumed the space around me, it disappeared and I saw the “real” world.

  I’m sorry that it took me this long to help you, the Old Man said. I needed to save as much strength as I could. So I couldn’t waste it before I’ve met Biergein. He put me down on my feet. He seemed to have been carrying me over his shoulder this entire time. But only me — I didn’t see any of the Ogroids.

  “And make our enemy spend his strength at the same time,” I grunted without taking my eyes of an old hunting lodge that had appeared in front of us. Time hadn’t been kind to it, and it would’ve collapsed long ago had its owner not propped the roof with wooden beams and secured some of the walls. Not that I’d call the building safe anyway. This strange, battered shack matched its crazy owner.

  “I took you all with me so that you could help me. You’re helping me because you want to, boy,” he said aloud. “The power of Darkness helped you in your fight against madness. Yes, it’s hard, but we started the fight the moment we crossed the Barrier.”

  The Old Man cast a spell that gave random buffs during the fight. So, he really did help us. But still, that didn’t change the fact that he had used the Ogroids and me as his shield.

  “You’re my sword, not
my shield,” he corrected. “Now get ready. He’s coming.”

  An ominous growl sounded from inside of the lodge the moment he fell silent. Lifting up the dirty curtain that served as a door, a hunched, hairy man stepped outside.

  During the memory loop, I couldn’t see his face for obvious reasons. But I did notice that he had been wearing a pair of thick leather pants and the same kind of jacket. The filthy, tattered rags that the creature wore looked much like that attire. Not even divine energy could protect his clothes from the flow of time. Perhaps Decay was to blame? I saw disgusting, green blisters on his cheeks, forehead, and wrists, the only parts of his body that weren’t covered with clothes or his long, tousled hair.

  Something was off about his gaze — his left eye was cloudy, while the right was wide open and full of madness and fury. Had his own helplessness driven him to this? Had he gone crazy because he failed to stop Rheingeit?

  Partly. Surprisingly, I immediately got an answer to my question. The Old Man didn’t take his eyes off the Mad God for even a second. Abdul summoned a friendly “Feathordˮ and covered Biergein, Urtia and Archeus as they retreated. Rheingeit didn’t try to pursue them. I don’t know why. Maybe he was sure in his victory, or maybe he couldn’t bring himself to kill his former brothers and sister. Whatever it was, three out of four Gods of Righteousness survived. Hoping to get their revenge, they tried to get stronger and gather more information. But nothing came out of it because they failed to change their views. They tried to combine two incompatible types of energy. This what came out of it.

  Incompatible energies? You mean that of the Gods and the “Decay?”

  Exactly.

  Our conversation took a couple of seconds — telepathy didn’t have you wasting time on pronouncing words out loud. It was like with reading — reading aloud went much slower. This is why the Old Man could share important information with me while our enemy was examining us with a scowl. The Mad God seemed to have enough common sense and survival instincts to not risk attacking those who had managed to get to his den without losing their minds. Besides, one of the guests was an Ancient.

  “Biergein, can you hear me?” the Old Man asked. “I’ll try to help you and ease your pain. Can you hear me?”

  Biergein, still unsure about starting a fight, didn’t react, just cocked his head to one side, as if curious, but didn’t stop growling.

  “I’ll begin then,” the God of Darkness said slowly. Waving his hand, he sent a crescent shaped gust of black smoke in his direction.

  “GRRAAA!!!” Biergein roared, dodging the attack with lightning speed. In the next moment, curved daggers, glowing with bright-green light, appeared in his hands. He touched the ground with his fists and, holding the weapons with his thumbs, rushed forward like a gorilla. Any gorilla would’ve envied his speed. Not just gorillas. Cheetahs would’ve turned green with envy, too.

  “WAAA!!!” Biergein leaped at the Old Man, obviously wanting to plunge both of his daggers into his face. My patron put his hands in front of him, creating a shield made out of black smoke, deflecting the attack. He then waved his right hand and a smoking Tendril of Darkness stretched out of the shield toward Biergein’s belt.

  However, Biergein pushed off the Tendril with his feet and jumped away. Once he landed, he got down on all fours and rushed to the right, trying to attack the Old Man from the side.

  One quick wave of the hand followed another and soon six Tendrils were slithering toward Biergein. He didn’t try to dodge them as that would’ve been too difficult. He didn’t stop to defend himself, but roared furiously and began to spin around like a dervish. A glowing, bright-green spinning top went through the black smoke without any difficulty.

  Having destroyed the Tendrils, Biergein reached their master in a blink of an eye. This time he didn’t attack from above; he crouched and then pounced like a prowling lion, aiming at the Old Man’s stomach.

  The Shield of Darkness protected him again, but I could’ve sworn that I saw cracks appear where the daggers had hit it. However, the illusion quickly disappeared.

  Biergein backed away and went around.

  I believe in my strength, boy. I believe that I can defeat him. But the consequences will be dire. Now that we are closer than ever to reassembling the “Zurtarn,” hiding after a hard fight to restore our strength would be an unnecessary luxury. I didn’t take you with me just to show you how I fight, but to defeat him quickly. Don’t stand idly. This is a perfect chance to prove yourself.

  He managed to get in my head while fighting, see what I was thinking about, and even give me some advice. He really was much stronger than he had been a couple of months ago. Just like me.

  A little earlier, I wondered whether or not I should interfere in their battle and what was I even doing here. But now I wondered if I should use my aces or not. Should I allow myself to be left without the Amulet for the next twenty-four hours? Six hours without being able to use the Small Avatar didn’t seem like a pleasant thought either. But that’s what aces were for — to be used in a pinch. But what if the Old Man manages to defeat Biergein all by himself?

  However, his words opened my eyes. I shouldn’t be greedy and brazen. And if I manage got in trouble in the course of the next twenty-four hours, I hoped that my patron would be able to get me out of it.

  “Activate the Amulet of Righteousness.”

  I blocked both of the daggers with my forearm and at the same time activated Small Avatar. Biergein stared in astonishment, and I thought how it was ironic to use the artifact of the Gods of Righteousness against one of them. I wondered if they had created them together or if only one of them was to be credited.

  “GRRAAA!!! RRAAAA!!! AAAA!!!” Biergein roared and unleashed hail of strikes upon me. But his blades didn’t leave so much as a scratch on my leather armor.

  The black smoke of the Small Avatar emerged from underneath my feet and enveloped my body like a cocoon, blinding me. I wanted to see what would happen to Biergein... Apparently, my willpower and desire were enough to make the haze not obscure my view completely. Through a black veil, I observed the events unfold.

  I glanced at the Tendrils, barely visible because of my own Darkness, with the corner of my eye. They were attacking Biergein simultaneously from both sides, but he managed to react and jump back, bumping into the black wall of concentrated Darkness with his back.

  “WAAAA!!!” He roared in pain when the barbs that grew out of the wall pierced through his body in ten different places. The barbs began to change, intertwining with one another, changing targets and surrounding him. Retreating into the wall, the construction that they had made reminded of a medieval gibbet cage.

  “Grrr… Grrr!!!” Biergein roared, wriggling in his cage. Every move brought him a lot of pain. An ordinary man (even a high-leveled one) would’ve died by now. But a God… It was hard to tell how long he’d last and if ten wounds would be able to kill him. Biergein, just like the other masters of this world, had no level or HP.

  My vision suddenly became crystal clear. Small Avatar had been cast and I became taller, bigger, and seemingly made out of Darkness. I looked very much like my patron.

  He’s trapped... I used “Small Avatar” for nothing... Ah, well. As they say, all’s well that ends―

  “RRRAAAA!!!” The Old Man approached Biergein and outstretched his hand when the latter shouted louder than ever before. The bright-green glow attacked him from all directions.

  A moment later, the Cage of Darkness cracked and shattered into pieces.

  Seems like I haven’t activated the “Small Avatar” for nothing after all.

  Chapter 13

  Four Against One

  I instinctively tried to defend myself, but failed to — the curved blade scratched my neck. Luckily, the Amulet was still active; and although its effect was nearing its end, the attack failed to cause damage.

  Biergein, however, managed to get pretty close to me, but I had been clutching Dagon’s Trishula in my right hand fo
r a long time already. Taking a step forward, I attacked.

  Trident of Darkness.

  Somewhere in the back of my mind, I noticed that the logs said nothing about the attack, damage, additional effects from the Old Man’s buffs, or Small Avatar’s effects. Having given it a thought, I figured that there could be only one reason for this — my enemy was too tough for the system to register anything. I didn’t know that that Gods were above the system…

  I didn’t have much time to dwell on it anyway. Sure, there were no messages, but the prongs of my trishula still pierced Biergein’s stomach, making him roar and jump back. Black smoke, which was, apparently, the side effect of my elemental skill, gushed out of the open wound. And then…

  And then all of his wounds healed — the three from my trishula and the ten from the Cage. Like corks, thirteen bright-green scabs appeared on his skin, closing the wounds.

  Black lightning hit to the left of me. Having to defend himself, Biergein crossed his daggers, deflecting the… Sword of Darkness? I had never seen such a skill before. Emerging from the Old Man’s sleeve, it resembled a three-foot long blade made out of smoke without a cross-guard (maybe there was one, but it was hidden in the sleeve). Floating in the air, it looked like a stick that had been taken out of a fire.

  Hurry up, boy! Though Biergein has become stronger and healed his wounds, he has spent a lot of energy. Let’s finish him together!

  I rushed to help him, catching myself thinking about unpleasant things. This whole battle had been fought without honor. Instead of giving it our 110%, we were thinking about how to save our strength and deal with Biergein as quickly as possible. Common sense implied that this was the right approach. And although I liked it very much, there’s a reason why they say: “don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched.” The Old Man was probably already thinking about how we’ll fight the other Gods or even Rheingeit. There was nothing wrong about thinking ahead, but still…

  A bright green, semi-transparent ball with tiny tentacles emerged from Biergein’s chest. My first thought was that it looked like either an octopus, or a jelly-fish. It then opened its mouth wide, and I saw two empty eye-sockets and two openings where the nose should be. Growing to be at least ten feet in diameter, it flew through the Old Man, and then through me, just a moment before the Amulet’s effect had ended.