by Pavel Kornev
On the other hand, the Order’s real sanctum was the orcs’ mountain temple. It wasn’t in the Grand Master’s interests to attract unwanted attention to his grave by posting too many guards around. Secrecy was his best defense.
The impossibly high double doors stood ajar. The light I’d seen was streaming through the crack, hurting my eye. Gingerly I peeked inside.
The unbearably bright light was coming from the statue of the Silver Phoenix. The statue appeared strangely misshapen as if its changing allegiance to Chaos had drastically affected its form. It was angular as if someone had broken it into pieces, then tried to put it back together again. It looked menacing — in fact, now it resembled an orcs’ totem.
The absence of locks on the door was another unpleasant surprise. The doors themselves were massive: almost as thick as a hand and reinforced with steel bands. Still, they had no locking bolts, only some fancy wrought door handles. And I was in for quite a bit of digging here: if an alarm ever sounded, the orcs would bury me under the sheer weight of their numbers.
I closed the door and cussed.
Shit! Why had I left the rope up in the tree? I could have tied up the door handles with it. But there was no way I would have gone back to retrieve it now.
Having said that...
With a happy grin, I reached inside my inventory and produced the Moon Grail complete with chain.
Oh, yes. A chain would do very nicely, thank you. If anything, it was even stronger than a rope.
I poked the chain through the door handles not once, not twice, but three times, then tied several knots in the chain. I gave it a yank to check it and was quite pleased with the result.
Very well. Let’s get this show on the road!
The vault lid which had been broken during my previous foray had already been restored, so my pick came in really handy. With a few powerful swings, I broke through the marble, pushed all the rubble aside and reached for the spade.
Dig it deep and fling it high...
Dig it deep and fling it high...
Dig it deep...
Grave digging proved an even more monotonous and long-winded exercise than smoking the undead. Why would anyone log in just to do something mundane like this? But no, the devs wanted it to be as realistic as possible...
When I finally reached the gray sack cloth, I cheered up and flung the spade aside. Pulling out my cursed hook, I used it to rip through the strong fabric.
Immediately the glow emitted by the silver statue dimmed, filling the room with shadows. I sensed a hostile presence which weighed heavily on me.
“Grave robber!” a voice thundered over my ear.
I promptly leapt out of the shallow grave and rolled aside.
Not a moment too soon. A gray bolt of lightning struck the mound of earth and exploded, sending clumps of earth flying everywhere.
The translucent figure of the Grand Master was hovering just under the ceiling. He pointed an accusing finger at me again. I scrambled aside just as a new bolt of magic exploded the broken vault lid, showering the walls with chunks of marble.
“Die, you worm!” the ghost announced before casting yet another bolt.
I used Leap to escape the blow, then launched an Arrow of Death at him. To no avail: the combat spell went right through him without causing any damage.
The Grand Master laughed. “You fool!”
A new bolt of lightning missed my head by a few inches.
“Ham-fisted moron!” I managed to shout back.
The insult seemed to infuriate him. He began showering me with spells — but luckily, his accuracy was seriously compromised by his anger, so he kept missing.
I realized full well that this game of cat-and-mouse wouldn’t last long. And if I died here, that would be an absolute disaster. So I decided to use the Bone Path — but first, I darted toward the Moon Grail which was still hanging on the chain blocking the door handles. Immediately the doors shook under a series of powerful blows from the other side.
“They’ll chop you to pieces, wretched ghoul!” the Grand Master wailed, then took a new aim, targeting the chain.
A new bolt of lightning hit it but went out without a single sound. No explosion, nothing. The chain links remained intact — but the silver cup attached to it began to glow weakly.
Completely flabbergasted, the ghost tried again — with the same result. That’s when I had a crazy eureka moment.
The Moon Grail! Hadn’t Ulrich mentioned once that the cup’s residual holiness was capable of destroying dark spirits? And seeing as in those days Chaos hadn’t even existed, maybe it could work on the ghost, too?
I sprang over to the door and hacked at the chain with my flamberge. A few links holding the Moon Grail fell to the floor. Before the ghost could unblock the door, I grabbed the chalice and hurled it at the Grand Master.
With a strange plop, the ghost disappeared. The chalice hit the wall, rebounded and rolled over the floor.
It worked! The power of Light contained within the Grail had dissipated the spirit of the Grand Master who’d dared to join Chaos. In which case... why was the quest still active?
I picked up the Grail. Just as I did so, the disfigured statue of the phoenix blinked again. The furious ghost of the Grand Master reappeared just under the dome.
“You!” he roared. “You’ll live to regret that!”
Apparently, the Grail had dissipated the ghost without annihilating him. The Grand Master was firmly anchored to this world; you couldn’t get rid of him so easily. I needed to destroy the very anchor!
His ghostly figure began filling with light. I hurled the chalice again — not at him this time but at the open grave. The Moon Grail fell on top of his remains.
The ghost blinked and disappeared. The oppressive sensation of somebody’s foreboding presence went with him.
The knocking at the door stopped momentarily, only to resume with renewed vigor. I could hear them chopping at the door with axes — but still I kept standing there doing nothing. No idea what I was waiting for — whether for the ghost to return or for some notification to arrive, informing me of the closure of the quest — but I waited in vain. I’d failed to kill the Grand Master, even though he’d never be able to come back in his ghostly form again. Better than nothing, I suppose.
Finally, I shook off my lethargy, grabbed the spade and began feverishly refilling the grave with earth. The door was creaking, about to give, its two halves threatening to fly off their hinges at any moment — but before casting Bone Path, I took the trouble to lay the shattered pieces of the vault lid back into place.
That was it. Rest in peace, you vengeful bastard. I had other business to attend to.
Time left: 24 days 23:58:18…
THE FIELD. THE TOWER. The Crimson Moon.
Having emerged from the crypt, I’d found neither the mercs nor the portal scroll promised by Isabella. Neo hadn’t shown up, either. He was probably still waiting for me on the river bank.
The quest hadn’t been closed — the proverbial fly in the ointment that ruined everything for me. Don’t get me wrong: earning 40,000 XP in a few hours was a great thing, but I wanted it all and I wanted it now. I wanted to spend my life living, not waiting.
Shit! Once again I added Bone Path to the quick-access slots. While I was at it, I also restored Ashes. It didn’t consume much energy, anyway, and an extra blow in battle could mean a lot.
Having finished with all my rearrangements, I wandered around outside the tower for a bit before returning to my crypt. I reclined on the throne and was about to fall into a pleasant slumber when I sat bolt upright and opened the crown’s description that Lloyd had sent me via Isabella.
I was curious what kind of artifact the vampires had managed to lay their hands on. Was it worth the hassle?
The Bone Crown of Domination (Deadman’s Set: 1 out of 13)
Armor: 3
Intellect: +0.4
Perception: +0.4
XP received: +0.4%
Both my drowsiness and my lethargy evaporated. I sprang off the throne and began pacing up and down the room.
Five percent... that was... that was... Fifty thousand on top of every million! It might not sound like a lot but it might buy me another couple of days. And time for me was worth its weight in gold now. Real gold, not Monopoly money.
Dammit! I needed that crown! I needed it really badly!
But how much would the vampires want for it? And would Lloyd agree to give me some credit? Shit! I didn’t care what percentage interest he might want! I had to complete the set!
I really had to. But that could become a real problem. Trust the vampires to get one over on me. And I had no leverage on them.
Dammit!
I bounded up the stairs, fully intending to find Isabella and arrange for a portal to the capital, but bumped into Neo in the doorway. The boy looked completely nonplussed, lost even.
“Uncle John!” he started moaning as soon as he saw me. “What about the Grand Master? Did you kill him?”
“Not entirely.”
“But why? I didn’t sense him die! But I can’t feel his presence in this world anymore, either.”
I had to clue him in on the latest developments.
Neo turned grim. “It’s the same as living with a sword hung above your head,” he blurted. “What if someone digs the grave up and takes the chalice?”
“Well, I’m sorry!” I made a helpless gesture. “I’ve no idea how to kill him.”
“That’s real bad, Uncle John. Real bad.”
Scarecrow who’d been sitting on the watchtower’s spire crowed his agreement. Mechanically I wanted to tousle the boy’s hair but reconsidered just in time: doing so in steel gauntlets wasn’t such a good idea.
Instead, I just said, “Cheer up, kid! Hire yourself some bodyguards. Or even better, get some mercs together and capture another temple.”
He looked at me as if he was seeing me for the first time. “That didn’t even enter my head,” he admitted.
“That’s what friends are for.”
“I’ll go and speak to the alchemist straight away!”
“Wait a sec,” I stopped him in his tracks. “Are you off to the capital?”
“Sure. I don’t want to waste time.”
“Can you drop me off at the inn where we used to live?”
“At Mark’s? Why not?”
Neo swept his hand. A black line traced its way through the air. It began to quiver, then curved and formed a black hole.
“Let’s go, Uncle John,” the boy called me.
I stepped after him.
I found myself at the center of the inn’s dining room which luckily was empty. Not a single guest at the tables, not even Mark behind the bar.
“Would you like me to wait for you?” Neo asked.
“No,” I replied. “I’ll come back under my own steam.”
The boy nodded and left. I didn’t hang around, either. I climbed the stairs to the attic and knocked on the door. For all that I knew, the vampires could be out or offline even, but I was in luck.
I heard a floorboard creak. A voice asked,
“Who’s there?”
“It’s John,” I said.
The bar clanged. Marquis who’d answered it stepped aside, giving way. “Go on in.”
I stepped in. Only then did the vampire notice my new status.
“Lazarus, eh?” he looked puzzled.
“It’s only a disguise,” I snapped, looking around.
The short-assed Baron sat on a listing stool playing with a key ring and looking at me with a little smile I couldn’t quite work out. Count was sitting at the table, both his scimitars in front of him — next to the bone crown.
The Crown of Domination from the Deadman’s Set!
It’s as if they’d been waiting for me.
Marquis stayed behind to lock the door while I picked up a stool, wiped the dust off it and went to sit down opposite the vampires’ leader.
“Interesting item, eh?” he gave me a wink. “I knew you’d be interested.”
“It’s not bad,” I agreed, adding a distinct note of skepticism to my voice. “Where did you get it from?”
“We took apart a general of the Lord of Decay,” Count said with a smirk.
“You mean when you loused us up in the Kingdom of the Dead?”
Marquis who was standing behind my back chuckled unhappily. “We swore no allegiance to you. We just parted company, that’s all.”
“Don’t,” Count stopped him, then turned to me. “So, John? Are you interested?”
“Well, seeing as I’m here...”
“You can take a look if you wish. Just make sure you don’t touch it.”
I leaned forward, preparing to ask about the price, when a crimson flame flashed behind my back. Taking advantage of the fact that we’d forgotten all about him, Baron had tried to lift the charmed skull out of my inventory but had dropped it on the floor, screaming. Still, although the protective charms of the Mistress of the Crimson Moon had completely mangled his hand, they hadn’t affected his presence of mind. With a well-aimed kick, he sent the artifact flying toward Marquis.
I’ll strangle you, you thieving bastard!
I made a dash for the skull, but was immediately stabbed in the back by Count’s magic scimitars.
Ashes!
Although the first scimitar couldn’t harm me, the other one swung me round, putting me off my stride. That proved to be enough for Marquis to grab hold of the skull and leap over the table.
“Wait!” I barked.
Too late. Marquis had disappeared in the flash of a single-use portal.
“You scumbags!” I shouted. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Relax, John,” Count laughed, playing with his scimitars. “It’s just that we were hired to get hold of that thing. We were paid handsomely, by the way. Your friend is no Scrooge.”
“You idiots! My respawn point is tied to that skull!”
He snorted. “See if I care. This is just a game, nothing personal. By this evening, we’ll all be a hundred grand richer. How you sort it out with your buddy is your problem.”
I growled as I drew my flamberge from behind my back. Count had prudently taken up a defensive stance so I couldn’t get to him very easily. I used Leap to port toward Baron who hadn’t expected to be attacked and therefore proved easy prey.
Scythe of Death combo!
The undulating blade slashed at the vampire’s chest, throwing him back. Unfortunately, the blow hadn’t been fatal — but then Count joined back in, preventing me from finishing off the audacious thief. I had to brandish my flamberge in figures of eight in order to keep him at bay.
Only then did I realize the true meaning of his words.
By this evening, we’ll all be a hundred grand richer.
By this evening? Yes! And now it was only midday!
Even though I couldn’t earn a million XP without dying at least once — the risk of death was ever present — I still had the chance to rectify the situation and retrieve the wretched skull. All I had to do was die and get myself transported directly to it.
But what if the skull was already in Garth’s possession by the time I resurrected? Wouldn’t’ I be sending myself into a trap?
Into a trap? Straight to hell, more like.
So should I take the risk? Should I go all-out or should I stay on the defensive trying not to get myself killed? Then again, I only had a month! One miserable month...
Taking advantage of my hesitation, Baron jumped to his feet and bared his daggers. Count came at me from the other side. Unwilling to prolong the agony, I swung round and took a running jump at the boarded-up window. The planks gave way under the weight of my body. I dropped like a stone to the ground below, dir
ectly onto the sharp steel rails of the fence surrounding the back yard.
Ouch. I was impaled like a beetle on a pin.
Time left: 24 days 21:37:25…
DARKNESS. FLESH. Blood.
Or rather, lumps of flesh and splatters of blood.