“What happened, mom? Dad?”
“Our last order…” Dad grimaced, then decided to take the blame after all. “I made a mistake in a design for a small resort world. It’s a kind of virtual planet full of champagne fountains, lemonade rivers and candy growing on trees. Not to mention more, ahem… adult pleasures. The world fell apart when it took its first batch of tourists. Long story short, we’re bankrupt. If we don’t pay the fine, the customer will complain and mom and I will lose our licenses and all our property, they’ll knock down our citizenship status and… We’ll be resettled, Alex.”
“We need a million and two hundred thousand phoenixes?” I asked, thinking feverishly about the anonymous League of Goblins auction. “I’ll find the money. But you’re going to have to go back to Disgardium, dad. Because I don’t think I can transfer the money out myself…”
Avoiding direct answers about the origins of such a fantastic amount, I told them that I had some very valuable loot and lots of it. Dad scratched his head and suddenly broke into a smile. Mom looked at us in confusion, and then dad whispered something to her. Her eyes widened, her mouth opened, but she stayed silent, just nodding.
“Everything will be fine, mom. Pack your suitcases. Dad, help mom and… No more arguments! I may not be a grown-up, but even I can see that all your problems started when you decided to divorce. Now I have things to do… including pulling your dear parental asses out of the fire!
Everyone was so stunned after that outburst that even AT, the little bastard, finally shut up and jumped onto dad’s lap, wagging its tail. Like in the good old days.
* * *
I rose circle after circle around the now-finished temple, but the problems never disappeared from my head. My guardian minions and other undead dragged behind me.
Upgraded riding skill: +1. Current level: 10.
You’re confident in the saddle and you’re ready to control a flying mount! Movement speed while riding increased by 10%.
In occasional skirmishes with respawning mobs, I focused on leveling up not only Archery, but also my skills with other weapons which I’d borrowed specially from Crawler to level up my skills. My level wasn’t good enough for iron, but that didn’t stop me from fighting, and nor did the Heavy Burden debuff that appeared when I used weapon or armor above my level (minus to stats, and gear bonuses stopped working). Thankfully, landing one hit with a sword, dagger or club on a level four hundred beast was enough to level up the skill by several grades, especially in the beginning.
In reality, I was just procrastinating on performing the temple dedication ritual. I was afraid that the Destroying Plague would learn of the treachery, and I hadn’t managed to level up everything I wanted to, but I was even more worried about Behemoth… who had remained in the lair of the Nucleus of the Destroying Plague. When I activated Balancer and prepared to fire at the ruler of the undead, the I heard the Sleeping God’s weak voice:
“Stop, Initial! While the parasite is fed by its channel from the Nether, you cannot kill it. Leave me here. I will try to disentangle its weavings and close it off from the source. Moreover, I will find something to replace the gifts it has given. But remember, Herald! Your thoughts are protected from the parasite, but if anyone else learns of me, it may figure out what is happening. No living soul must learn of this, otherwise my presence in this world will be ended.”
“What should I do?”
“Leave me in that pool of scum. As for you, use your abilities from the parasite to become stronger and strengthen your allies. Reach the place of power and build a temple to Tiamat. Once she appears, she will remove the undead curse from you, and I will try to find out more about the parasite and all the rest in the meantime… Hurry! An assault from the Nether is coming, and its power is unprecedented. The Destroying Plague is merely one of its heralds. If we, the Sleeping Gods, do not gain enough strength, the Nether will swallow up Disgardium.”
Had I become stronger since then? Naturally. But had I leveled up enough? Of course not.
And right now, I needed to finally decide whose side I’d play for. My imagination saw legions of the undead, and myself at their head. I could get rid of the lich Shazz by building a stronghold of the Destroying Plague in the Commonwealth itself. All the top players would gather for such a serious event, and if I put myself nearby in the disguise of another, then the lich would die alongside his minions. The Nucleus would have only one Legate left — Scyth. I wouldn’t allow any new ones to appear. The Sleeping Gods? My promise to Behemoth? The world had somehow lived and gotten along fine without them for more than one era.
I imagined returning to Latteria after leveling up to a thousand on Holdest, Meaz and Terrastera, and going on to conquer the entire Commonwealth, and then the Empire! How I would take down the entire preventer army and crush their castles with a single Plague Fury for a million damage. I pictured processions of envoys waving white flags both from the clans and from the corporations, coming to bend the knee and beg for mercy. And they’d either have to make me a category-A billionaire with my own space yacht or find themselves a new game to play. I was sure they’d try to bribe me.
Once rich, I’d be able to help my non-citizen friends. Trixie would be able to travel where he wanted, with a premium capsule. The workers’ kids would be able to study in private school.
Only thanks to the Destroying Plague did I have the power to solve my parents’ problems and pay for university for myself and the former Dementors. Thanks to the undead curse, I’d be flying to Distival tomorrow! Only thanks to the curse had the Sleeping Gods gotten their new temple; both on Kharinza and here, in the Lakharian Desert. And I was still in doubt; who’s side to take...?
Alongside the Destroying Plague, I could bring the entire system to its knees!
Nether, I was the Destroying Plague! Because life is death, but there is no death in service to the Destroying Plague! The entire world will bow before its might...!
“Are you alright, Scyth?” Crag’s calm voice brought me back to reality.
“We’re all worried, bro, but why eat sand?” Bomber asked.
Raising my head, I realized that my mouth was full of sand and my body was buried up to the waist in a pit which I must have dug out myself. The sun had already gone down, and only the light of Geala lit my friends’ concerned faces. How much time had passed?
I raised my hand and saw the broken bones of my fingers. Not realizing what had happened and why they were in such a state, I shook my head and nearly fell, losing my balance when my head span three hundred and sixty degrees. The thought of the Destroying Plague’s power burned bright in my mind…
What? Those weren’t my thoughts! That bastard had pulled me into its ranks by force, and only through Behemoth’s intervention had I kept my control of myself. But the Sleeping God was weakening, the Nucleus’s influence growing. If something happened to Behemoth, I’d lose my character. And then not only would I never see riches or fame; everything would be lost!
I let that thought grow stronger, crowding out ideas from outside my mind. And I made my decision, doubting no longer.
I descended into the valley, leaving my clanmates and my zombie minions. I walked into the temple and approached the altar.
Level 1 Unconsecrated Temple
Consecration requires an adept with a status of at least ‘priest’.
Identified: Initial.
Requirements met.
As soon as I put my hand on the altar, my sensations all disappeared. I found myself in an infinite space surrounded by huge misty figures. A barrage of foreign emotions washed over me, each one somehow with a sense of belonging to someone specific. Leviathan uplifted me, Kingu calmed me, Abzu made me want to laugh, Tiamat couldn’t hide her joy at her upcoming reincarnation in the world, and Behemoth… Behemoth felt terrible, but for some reason beamed with happiness.
The illusion subsided. I saw the dark room of the temple again, with my hand on the altar.
Scyth, do you wish
to consecrate this temple to the Sleeping Gods?
I confirmed it and chose Tiamat from the list of the Sleeping Gods.
Second Temple of the Sleeping Gods, dedicated to Tiamat
Level: 1.
Initial (1/1): Scyth.
Priests (3/3): Patrick O’Grady, Manny, Tissa.
Adepts: 169/169.
Faith points until next temple level: 1/28561.
Restore the First Temple of the Sleeping Gods or build a new one to increase your adept cap.
The icons of the divine abilities I’d gained from Behemoth all lit up at once. Unity came back, increasing my stats based on number of adepts.
A dragon’s face appeared on the altar, and then I felt her presence. A gentle hand descended on my shoulder.
“Greetings, Initial,” a soft female voice said in the silence. “We have much to discuss, but not now. I am weak. I must gain strength to remove the curse from you and your allies. My brother asked me to tell you that he is very proud of you, but he asks that you hurry. If he is found, he will be disincarnated, and the Sleeping Gods will never reach full strength without him. You must complete the parasite’s quest to return to it and get Behemoth out of there. He has done what needed to be done.”
“Will vindication help? I have a supply.”
“No,” the goddess shook her head sadly.
Your reputation with Tiamat the Sleeping God has increased: +500.
Current reputation: trust.
Behemoth’s quest wasn’t over, apparently considering the special circumstances — it asked me to restore the first Temple, and, first, to get the quest giver out of the lair of the Destroying Plague. But how could I do that if Kharinza was riddled with the undead...?
I didn’t have time to figure out the details; I barely had time to appreciate Tiamat’s beauty and majesty before she disappeared. A few moments later, a column of cold light struck the temple, bright and blinding. I stood frowning and heard a piercing buzz growing, making my bones vibrate. The walls of the temple shook, dust fell from the ceiling, and just as I’d begun to think the building would fall down, the noise abated, and the light faded.
I heard Crawler shouting through the comm amulet.
“Scyth, get over here now! We have an emergency!”
My vision hadn’t recovered yet, and I felt my way out of the temple. It was lighter in the desert than in the daytime, but the falling light wasn’t warm. It spoke of the presence of another god; Nergal the Radiant. Crag crawled on all fours on the dune’s slope, clutching his head. Bomber, Infect and Crawler stood nearby, weapons bared. The warrior’s sword, bard’s guitar and mage’s staff were aimed at Crag!
I ran over to them. When I reached them, Nergal’s light had gone out and finally disappeared, letting the night seep back in. Crag was already getting up, raising a calming hand.
“Guys, guys, everything’s fine. You can put your weapons away.”
“What happened?”
“Bullshit happened,” Crag wheezed, shaking sand off himself. “Sorry, Scyth, I messed up…”
“What the hell happened; can you tell me?”
“Listen, I don’t know how this became possible, but it seems Behemoth hid his presence on Kharinza from Nergal, so the Radiant didn’t know anything. But now that you’ve summoned Tiamat…”
“Now that was a sight!” Bomber butted in, unable to restrain his excitement. “A huge red dragon all across the sky!”
“Dragoness,” I corrected him automatically.
“We’re busted, in other words,” Crag resumed. “Nergal saw the temple of the Sleeping Gods through my eyes and it sent him into a fury! He demanded that I destroy the temple! And it’s… It’s a quest. With insane, awesome rewards!”
“And?”
“What do you mean ‘and’? What am I going to do to you? You’re immortal, damn it! Plus, you know my secret and you won’t attack first.”
“What happens if you don’t take the quest?” I asked.
“The Radiant threatens to take away my imba Nergal’s Fury ability and then curse me to hell and back too. The curse is awful, it’s a huge penalty to stats. Forever.”
“All we needed…” Infect sighed.
“Listen, Craggy, what if we take you out?” Bomber suggested in a sly voice. “We’ll share the rewards after, of course…”
“I doubt I could stop you, Bomb. But we’re friends, right? Maybe let’s calm down and give me a little time to think? Especially since we don’t have a lot of time — if I don’t complete the quest, the talent will drop by a level each day, and when it reaches zero, it’ll be gone.”
“Alright, Toby,” I agreed, paying no attention to the others. “You can crash here or on Kharinza if you don’t have anywhere to hide your character. We’ll be in touch.”
Thanking me, Crag said goodbye and left the game, leaving me to tackle the question of why Nergal was so indifferent to the Destroying Plague, and even to the fact that his subject had turned undead.
“Shouldn’t have let him go,” Crawler grumbled. “What stops him going to the preventers and selling not just himself, but our base too? He’d be a rich man.”
“No point in trusting only halfway. Do you remember how Mr. Wetmore explained to us that every betrayal has its price? Nether with all that. I trust Tobias, and if he betrays us, then that’s one less friend. But if he doesn’t, then our friendship with him will be worth more than all the rewards of the treasury!”
The Radiant God must have heard us. Immediately after my words, a global notification resounded:
Nergal the Radiant declares a holy crusade!
To the heroic and the courageous! In the Lakharian Desert, traitors of all that is light have founded a temple to the nightmarish Sleeping Gods. All Disgardium is in danger!
Don’t let this awoken evil gain strength; destroy it first and Nergal the Radiant’s reward will be generous!
Global event begins in 7 days.
A ceasefire has been declared between the Commonwealth, Empire and neutral races!
All who wish to join the holy crusade will get temporary immunity to the deadly heat of the Lakharian Desert.
“Damn it…” Crawler swore, stunned. “That’s all we needed!”
“Just seven days!” Infect howled. “So little time!”
“Little?” Bomber laughed. “A week ago, we were all under level thirty, but now? We’re going to be at the top of the leaderboard at this rate! Anyway, I’m sure Scyth has some ideas!”
“Just one,” I dodged Bomber’s friendly jab with a weighty fist. “I think I’ll need to be a Legate of the Destroying Plague a little longer to protect the temple. If the Nucleus has no objections, of course. And I’m going to need wings too…
Digging around in my inventory, I pulled out a Summoning Whistle. I span it in my hands, thinking of how much it could be worth, then blew into it. A thin whistling song on the edge of ultrasound flew out into the skies.
A ball of lightning fell nearby, and the measured, unhurried crack of monstrous wings descended on us.
Looking up, the boys slowly sat down on the sand.
“Holy…” Bomber wheezed. “That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!”
My new mount, so enormous that all the Awoken would have easily fit on its back, landed carefully without so as not to hurt any of us. Little charges of lightning ran across its dark-blue skin covered in mithril plates.
A powerful, sonorous roar echoed through the desert. We weren’t the only ones to instinctively jump back; even the dead minions did. The pets, headed up by Iggy, bolted off to the side. Crash, now grown to around the size of an aerotrain, peaked his head out of the sand and stared at my new pet with interest.
Storm Dragon
Legendary
Flying mount.
+1500% movement speed.
The Storm Dragon, the last of its kind, the true ruler of the skies. It has never had rivals in the skies or on earth, which is what caused its extinction; ever
y intelligent creature considered it a duty to find and destroy the eggs of the Storm Dragons.
An ancient mage preserved this dragon by sealing its essence in an artifact.
Storm Dragon is a battle pet and can take part in conflicts. Apart from basic moves, attacks with a precision lightning strike.
Requires level: 100.
Requires riding skill.
Sinking into the sand, the dragon approached me and lightly nuzzled me with its powerful triangular snout. Touching it, I felt the reptile’s measured breath, looked deep into its giant snake eyes and saw the wish to fly and fight. And at the same time, I somehow knew; it was a she!
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