Unbound Deathlord: Obliteration (The Unbound Deathlord Series Book 2)

by Edward Castle

  The spectres seemed to be ignoring the corridor and were instead digging into the wall to the right. It was quite a project, the excavated area was wide enough for hundreds of people to walk side by side and deep enough that even though I could hear the ringing of picks striking stone, I couldn't see any of the miners.

  There were thousands of specters sitting on the ground in the area just before the excavation. Horsemen, tanks, fighters, mages, and bowmen, all translucent. To the side, there was a huge tent guarded by hundreds of them.

  Specters weren't the only species present either; there were also vampires, zombies, deathlords, and sorins.

  That worried me a little, both the vampires and deathlords wanted my head. Even if they were players, people who joined this NPC war would definitely be interested in loot, and my head was worth a few hundred gold coins.

  Worse still, I could tell by their distinctive armbands that many members of the White Tree clan were present.

  "This way," the horse said, leading us to the guarded tent.

  Some of those present watched us as we approached, and I could see surprise and hostility in the eyes of all who recognized me, mainly the White Tree clan members. Even many of the specters didn't seem very happy to see us. I noticed some of the glares were directed at Daggers, not me; clearly, drow weren't welcome in the camp, no matter what she had said about turncoats before.

  And that's when I realized I hadn't seen a single drow in the camp. I really hoped Manhart's medallion would keep us safe.

  When we arrived in front of the tent, the horsemen guarding it parted so we could pass. "Go inside," the horse said. "The Mage Kings are waiting for you."

  32. Ruined Diplomacy

  There were four Ruined Mage Kings in the tent, floating above the ground with their eyes closed. They had elven features and wore golden robes. On their platinum blonde heads they wore crowns of different colors: red, green, blue, and black.

  If I'd ever run across ghosts like them back on Earth I would've been torn between shitting myself and staring at them in awe.

  Each of them had ten morbs floating above their heads the same color as their crowns, which represented fire, earth, water, and darkness respectively.

  Floating behind them were dozens of spheres taller than me, composed of layers of metal symbols orbiting the eerie white mist core. The outermost layer was all circles, stars and runes which remained a fixed distance from each other as they revolved. I realized it was like layers of satellites around a planet though these were clearly held in place by magic rather than gravity.

  As I stared into one of the cores, I realized that sometimes I could see faces forming for a split second, like souls trying to escape.

  My attention was drawn away from the orbs as the specter with the red crown opened his stark white eyes and addressed me. "Jack Thorn," his voice was a whisper of the grave which made my hair stand on end. "You dare enter our presence reeking of Divine Approval?"

  I raised my arms. "Not my fault, the assholes who call themselves gods are forcing this shit on me. Hell, I'd owe you a favor if you can get it off without killing me."

  The specter with green crown turned his desolate gaze on me. "He speaks the truth," he said.

  Strangely enough, both his mouth, and the fire Mage King's moved in unison, and the whisper I heard was exactly the same as before.

  What the hell were these guys?

  Worse still, the earth dude looked like a truthseer. That wasn't good; I would have to rethink how I would warp the truth to look like I was on their side.

  "Truthseer?" I asked to confirm my suspicious.

  "Yes," he said. Or maybe it was the other specter. Or both. Damn, that was weird. "What do you want from us?"

  "Oh, that's a tricky question, you being a truthseer and all. I would love to learn divine magic, but I imagine you're not looking for apprentices." They didn't answer and I continued speaking. "Money, equipment, magic, information, I want a lot from you. The reason I'm here is simple; to attack Ter'nodril."

  "True," they said. "Why?"

  "I don't like the drow," I replied simply.

  The black-crowned King with darkness morbs opened his white eyes next. "A Dark Archmage dares attack the Devourer, God of Darkness?"

  Nowadays, it seemed like everyone knew about my title. "Yup. Why, are there any consequences?"

  "Yes," they said. I saw the three mouths move, and continued to hear nothing but a harsh whisper in my ear. It was so creepy that I was sure I'd have screamed and tried to run if I forgot for a second that this was just a game. "The darkness element will become... Unstable. It might disappear."

  That sounded perfect for my plans of destroying Valia. Maybe destabilizing the darkness would also destabilize the light and trigger a domino effect to destroy all magic in the world. "Not a problem. So, now that we're all on the same page, what can you do to help me?"

  The last King, the one with the blue crown, finally opened his eyes and they all looked at me. "What does Manhart want from us?"

  I rolled my eyes. These guys were slow. "Only that you allow me and my friend here..." I gestured towards Daggers. "...free passage into Ter'nodril. However, I think joining your army would be much better. Since even if you give me free passage, I'm not sure I could destroy Ter'nodril by myself. I'm not that arrogant."

  They remained silent for a few seconds. "You're the catalyst which started this war. Why should we allow you to live?"

  Somehow, they all made their morbs pulse with light. That was slightly worrisome but I didn't let it show on my face.

  "Because you can still kill me after you get the help of a Dark Archmage against the Devourer. And I know what you'll ask next: what if I run. Well, you weren't that interested in killing me in the first place, or you would have done it in the Slums. I'm just an afterthought. If you can kill me, good. If you can't, I'm sure you don't really care."

  "What makes you think we want your help?" They asked immediately.

  "Well, you have accepted the help of the White Tree guys, why not accept mine? I'm certainly more useful than them."

  "He believes it," they said, and I realized it was the truthseer King speaking to the others. So, they didn't share a single mind. "So be it," they said next. "You'll join the Drow Corps with your pet Blackguard. You're dismissed."

  Quest Series: Catacombs' Drow Corps

  You have joined the Catacombs' Drow Corps.

  As a military unit engaged in war, there are many quests to complete and rewards to be earned.

  The rewards are dependant on how well you execute your tasks from now on.

  Conditions:

  » Cannot be denied

  » Disobeying will lead to unfavorable consequences

  » Must accept all Drow Corps quests given from now on

  Quest: Find the Drow Corps

  [Catacombs' Drow Corps]

  C rank

  Check in with the leader of the Drow Corps in the specters' siege camp.

  Condition:

  » Must be completed without dying

  "Just one last question," I said. "Any estimate of how long will it take us to get inside Ter'nodril?"

  "One week," they said and their eyes closed. The conversation was over.

  I said as Daggers and I walked out of the tent.

  she said.

 

 

  nse,> I said.

  Daggers said.

  I cut her off firmly, then sighed.

  The truth was that I was very frustrated. I didn't have a whole lot of time to do what I needed to in Ter'nodril.

  Yes, grandfather said I was safe in the house. However, in a week or two the Armed Forces would have stabilized the country and the politicians had to be anxious about it. After all, when the Armed Forces were done with the population, they would be in a position of power. At worst they could overthrow the government, or at least they could force the politicians to submit to trial for the crimes they'd been accused of..

  If either of those things happened, my protection would disappear.

  Daggers said.

  I face palmed.

  I made sure Manhart's Medallion was clearly visible, hanging from my neck, just in case I needed to quickly show it to a specter. My shield was on my arm, and my other hand was resting on the hilt of my sword. Above me, nine fire morbs, one death morb, and one life morb were ready to fire. I considered bringing out my staff, but in an ambush there would be little chance for me to play mage, having my sword ready would be much more effective in a chaotic melee.

  We walked among the specters, receiving everything from curious glances to hostile glares. Although we could ask where the Drow Corps were, after Daggers reminded me how the enemy drow would attack as soon as the wall fell, I was confident I would find the allied drow excavating it.

  It was simple logic: the Kings couldn't completely trust the turncoats, so why not put them in the most dangerous position? They would be the first to die and the specters' manpower wouldn't suffer.

  As I'd half expected, I could see people of all species out of the corner of my eye moving surreptitiously gathering and beginning to encircle us.

  I told Daggers.

  she said while already becoming invisible. On my minimap I saw her part ways with me.

  I had given her the choice, but I wasn't really sure there was one. If we wanted to run, where could we even go, to the Drow Corps? We had no guarantee they would help two unknown greenhorns.

  Therefore, a show of force was needed. I removed my Circlet, put on my helmet, and approached.

  Soon, twenty-one people surrounded me; five vampires, ten specters, three deathlords, and three sorins. Surprisingly, no zombies were in the fold.

  Ten of them were mages, two were bowmen, and the other nine had close ranged weapons; mostly swords, but also a pike and a mace.

  Except for the two bowmen and one mage, all of them had shields. And except for the same shieldless mage, all of them wore plate armor.

  These were not dumb NPCs; they were players. And after almost two months of playing the game, it was unlikely that they were all idiots.

  "Hello, friends," I said with a smile. "Lovely day for a walk in a war camp, isn't it? Care to join me as I head to the Drow Corps?"

  Their leader, a guy with plate armor and the red Write Tree armband, was the one to reply. "You're worth five hundred gold coins alive, Thorn," he said. "But even dead we can get three hundred for you. Surrender and things will be much better for all of us."

  It seemed my market value had increased again even though I had done nothing to deserve it. Damn, deathlords seemed to hate me with a passion.

  I raised an eyebrow. "Better for all of us? How is it good for me?"

  "You won't die. For now."

  That was fair, the penalty for dying was steep.

  "That's a wonderful proposition. However, I'm wondering, are you blind or just idiots?” I asked as I gestured with my head at the tent behind me. "I just had a meeting with the Ruined Mage Kings, who told me how grateful they are for this war I started. They were bored."

  The leader sniffed. "That's a stupid lie. Surrender now, last chance."

  I sighed. "Dude, I'll be honest. You have only one chance to kill me. If you miss it, I'll kill everyone. Please, don't do this to yourselves."

  There was no audible attack order, but their mage's morbs flew. Each one had an average of six morbs, for a total of around sixty. There was no way I could survive such an onslaught if I stood still.

  So, I drew my darksteel sword and ran ahead, keeping my shield raised to my left, where it was between me and the majority of the mages. My firebombs flew one after the other at a bowman ahead of me.

  I kept alert to the incoming spells on my left. When they were close enough, I twisted my body.

  My sword hit a couple morbs on the left and I crouched on the floor, twisting to face the opposite side I was running to. And then, I started running back.

  263 fire + 22 burn damage received (285 total)

  122 light damage received

  No damage received from darkness element (Immunity)

  43 earth damage received

  240 fire + 12 burn damage received (252 total)

  No damage received from darkness element (Immunity)

  66 wind damage received

  HP: 3425 / 4195

  Status effect resisted: Uprooted (level 1)

  Your physical defense factor is higher than the spell power.

  Spell power was mix of the spell tier, the spell level, the intelligence and the willpower of the caster. Physical defense factor was a mix of strength, constitution, and willpower of the defender.

  Thankfully, none of the archers could change their arrows' path mid-air, and they missed me.

  However, the first round of spells alone took almost eight hundred HP from me. I wouldn't survive the next six rounds of spells that were already flying my way.

  Not everybody would have a high-leveled Controller trait though, and just by changing directions while moving I expected to dodge some spells.

  The pain wasn't bad; the fire made me grind my teeth but everything else was nothing compared to the pain I'd experienced fighting the Boss' final form.

  While I bought time trying to dodge spells, I was just a distraction, my trump card in this scuffle was Daggers. And boy, was she having fun.

  The armorless mage was an obvious target and was already dead, his throat a mess of blood and flesh. I looked just in time to see my ex-Blackguard companion in shadow form behind an armored mage, her blades already sunk deep into his helmet.

  Two mages down, eight to go.

  I changed directions again, moving towards Daggers. More spells hit me, but considerably fewer than before. Between them and a lucky arrow, they dealt less than four hundred damage.

  The third mage died as two of the melee fighters broke from the other seven surrounding me and charged. I felt something pierce my right shoulder and yelled in pain. One of them had an armor piercing skil like Bear and Daggers.

  The guy in front of me swung his sword and I blocked with my shield, then threw my full weight into a shield bash hoping to get past him. Instead he managed to plant his feet and deflect my attack knocking me off balance, but thanks to my new gravity spell, I managed to not fall and stumbled past him.

  A sword bit into the back of my neck for three hundred damage, also ignoring my armor. A few spells exploded above my head for an extra five hundred damage.

  HP: 2093 / 4195

  I healed myself with my death morb, lurched forward and used the remaining three fire morbs to blow the legs out from under the guy in front of me.

  Finally, I stepped ov
er him and broke free from the circle of melee fighters; now only the external circle of ranged attackers was between me and freedom.

  Three spells struck my helm for another four hundred damage.

  I tried to run, but the asshole on the ground jerked my foot and I fell. Thankfully the tumble hadn't done any damage, so it didn't interrupt my creation of a death morb, allowing me to use the spell Death Absorption.

  Except for the sorins, all our other opponents were undead. The spell description said that the range was 'touch,' not that my hand had to touch the target, therefore his hand on my foot should work.

  The morb flew to the point of contact between us...

  168 HP absorbed from Fallen Asshole

  You healed yourself for 171 HP

  HP: 1991 / 4195

  The Healer trait allowed me me to heal more than the damage I dealt, which was interesting but not nearly enough to make this spell a viable option in this fight. I struggled against the man's grip and managed to break free. I got up, was hit by more spells, a pike, and an arrow for almost five hundred damage, and ran at a mage.

  Meanwhile, Daggers had already killed five of the mages. Sixteen more people to go, but not enough HP to survive until they all died.

  The mage in front of me tried to stop my charge with his shield, but I leaned in as I rammed him. This sorin couldn't be much more than half my weight, and a mage; he had no chance to withstand my weight or counter my strength. For his effort he was thrown down and ragdolled across the uneven ground. Maintaining my forward momentum I broke free from the goddamn ambush just as Daggers killed the sixth mage.

  The specters camp had no structures or terrain features I could use to my advantage, it did however have horses.

  It was weird how the horsemen never dismounted. And the horses were so strong-looking. And they talked too; wasn't that funny?! And...

  Shit! Wake up!

  Status effect resisted: Confusion (level 1)