“Emotions? What are you talking about?”
“Ah but of course! You think you’re a heavenly craftsman…Do you mind if I bring you back down to earth? Remember when we met and I told you that Rick was only at Level 14 or 17 in his Crafting? I didn’t want to brag about his 39th Level to you, so that you wouldn’t feel inferior. At the moment, Rick’s already at Level 112 and I doubt he’d give you a second thought. You’re a shit Craftsman…You know what is the only thing that I’ll miss? The projections! They’re the only thing that you managed to get your hands on that I don’t have. Everything else you’ve acquired—either I already have it or I destroyed it. Like your squidolphin. I couldn’t let you keep such a powerful ship—it would be too rich for a lone player.”
“Lone?” I was feeling worse and worse with every word that Anastaria, Barsina and Clutzer said to me. It was incredibly difficult to learn that over the past six months I’d been fed and fattened like a pig to the slaughter…
“Maybe not entirely alone,” came Leite’s voice, “but you certainly won’t have three thousand players with you as before. Everything’s ready on my side, Stacey.”
“Wonderful! You know, Mahan, you are so utterly predictable that even now when we’re dragging you through the muck, you still behave exactly as your psychological profile says you will. If you don’t mind, I will take these things—they’re much safer with me, isn’t that right, dear?”
The Eye of the Dark Widow, the Crastils, the squidolphin scales I had found in the Oceanic Abyss—everything that I had worked so hard to acquire in this game appeared in Anastaria’s hands. She had unfettered access to my inventory! Why hadn’t I shut her out the moment when all of this had begun?
“I suppose I’ll take the Chess Set as well.” Before I could cut her access, I was robbed bare. “After all, we’re husband and wife and should share our assets in the game!”
“What about the Ying-Yang? How did you get it to bloom?”
“Elementary—in that moment, I simply forced myself to believe that I loved you. You see, love is like a buff—it’s there and then it’s not. In fact, the part with the stone was quite simple.”
“Ready?” Hellfire asked Stacey.
“Let’s do it. It’s time to go home…”
My clan’s insignia faded over the girl’s head and in its place a bright phoenix flared to life—the girl had returned to her father. The same transformations began to occur gradually to the other players around me, while a series of notifications raced past my eyes:
Your deputy has left your clan. Pursuant to your contract, you hereby receive monetary compensation in the amount of 12,000,000 gold…
Your treasurer has left your clan. Pursuant to your contract, you hereby receive monetary compensation in the amount of 10,000,000 gold…
Your Raid Leader has left your clan. Pursuant to your contract…
“I do want to thank you for Leite—being able to test the quality of a treasurer in a real clan setting is invaluable. Especially since this treasurer had full access to your clan vaults…”
WHAT?! N-N-O-O-O!
Opening my clan properties, I blocked all access to money and resources. I was the only one who could approve any transaction from now on, and yet…
“Yes, we’ve received everything. Thanks, Leite. We’ll transfer the required funds now…
Clan achievement gained: ‘Deal of the Century.’ You have sold 50 million gold worth of goods. +1000 Clan Reputation with all trading clans.
“You won’t need all that Imperial Steel, will you, honey? And you can’t accuse us of being unfair—your treasurer had the authority to sell it at 40% of its market value. You signed the agreement with him yourself…And so, what do you have left?”
“But why now?” I blurted out. Even if they had crushed my spirit, if they were waiting for me to attack them with my fists and get sent to the mines, they were deeply mistaken. I can contain my rage. I can contain it and channel it in the necessary direction.
“Because you’re now useless! Your job was simple—open the tomb. Everything that will happen after this doesn’t concern you. If you think that you’re a successful player who sees everything that others don’t—I’m sorry to disappoint you. During our acquaintance, you managed to miss out on at least three continental events. Three! For example, the last one with the High Priestess and the Milkman. What kind of moron do you have to be to assume that that was just another launch point for the Kartoss scenario? It’s a good thing I managed to deal with it in time and assign some people to that quest chain. So that’s it—you, Mahan, are now wasted material. The Tomb is an ordinary Dungeon. Until I complete it, no one will even come close to it and, what makes me happiest, is that Nashlazar will be so proud of me.”
“Nashlazar?”
“Of course! This is the prettiest way to defeat the Foe! You think she forgot the past? Hah! I have finally been promoted to Rank 50!”
“I’d like to be there when you look Eluna in the face after this,” I said. “A Paladin of Light indeed…”
“Oh! I will look her in the face quite calmly! After all, from the game’s perspective nothing terrible has happened! I simply switched clans, neither betraying the Empire nor my ideals. This isn’t reality, Mahan. There are different values here…Oh! Here’s that call I’ve been waiting for! Speaking!” the girl said into the amulet.
“We’re in position and ready to attack,” said the voice in the amulet.
“Do it…”
Altameda, your castle, is under siege. Hurry to defend it!
“It’s not in my interests to allow you to keep a Level 24 castle,” Stacey finished me off completely. “It shall be reduced to Level 1, and then I will have achieved my goal—the Dragon will be crushed.”
My amulet began to vibrate. I picked it up without thinking.
“Master! We’re under attack!” yelled Viltrius. “We need assistance urgently!”
“Viltrius, teleport the castle!” I yelled, noting Stacey’s narrowed eyes. I guess she didn’t know I’d given an amulet to my majordomo…
“I cannot!” the goblin sounded disconsolate. “We still have a month before we’re allowed to teleport and the cost of a forced teleport is fifteen million. I don’t have access to that kind of money…”
“I grant you permission to withdraw money from the clan account! Choose a location in the Free Lands and teleport there! Block access to the castle to everyone but me! And do not reply to any calls!”
“Yes, Master,” the goblin replied joyfully, after which a notification appeared before me requesting me to confirm the withdrawal. Yes, I confirm it!
A sharp pain pierced my body and the world grew black.
Player Barsina wishes to resurrect you. Do you accept?
“He managed to do it, after all,” smirked Stacey. “It’s okay. We’ll find the castle sooner or later anyway. But we won’t kill you. I want to see your face when the entrance to the Tomb opens and you understand once and for all that everything you’ve worked toward for the past half a year is beyond your reach. One shouldn’t let moments like that slip away…”
The countdown timer for the gates was on its last minute. I looked at Anastaria and Barsina who were smirking, at Clutzer with his head bowed in guilty, at Hellfire and Magdey, opened my clan properties and almost cursed—there were just over four hundred players left in my clan. I had just lost almost two-and-a-half thousand players…
A new notification appeared, announcing that I had received a lot of gold, so I made sure that the available balance was sufficiently large and whispered:
“I call upon a Herald. I request your assistance…I wish to extinguish my debt to the government from the clan account.” I was leaving Barliona…
Are you sure that you wish to pay 94,883,998 gold as monetary compensation?
Yes, I’m sure. There’s no longer anything for me in this game. I have lost everything—my friends, my love, my clan…Everything that I had, had just vanished…I
opened my character’s properties and sighed bitterly—over the past year, I had leveled up quite a lot…
Goodbye, Shaman Mahan. You were a good friend.
Payment accepted. You will leave the prisoner capsule in 10 seconds…
9…
8…
The last thing I saw before leaving Barliona were the gates to the Tomb of the Creator slowly swinging open to reveal a dark way forward…
End of Book Five
ALSO BY VASILY MAHANENKO:
The Way of the Shaman LitRPG Series:
Survival Quest (The Way of the Shaman: Book #1)
The Kartoss Gambit (The Way of the Shaman: Book #2)
The Secret of the Dark Forest (The Way of the Shaman: Book #3)
The Phantom Castle (The Way of the Shaman: Book #4)
Dark Paladin LitRPG Series:
The Beginning (Dark Paladin Book #1)
Galactogon LitRPG Series:
Start The Game (Galactogon: Book #1)
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The Karmadont Chess Set (The Way of the Shaman: Book #5) LitRPG series Page 38