“Stop, Mahan!” yelled a familiar voice. Geranika had decided to drop in! “You cannot destroy Barliona!”
“Don’t you interfere!” the Patriarch stepped between me and Geranika, and yet he hadn’t been the one who had spoken. Naahti and the Dark Lord stood shoulder to shoulder with the Patriarch, blocking Geranika’s path towards Stacey, Plinto and me. “The time of reckoning has arrived!”
“Come to your senses, oh my children!” Eluna and Tartarus appeared behind Geranika’s shoulder.
“JUST GIVE ME A REASON! ” The walls of the cave shook around us. Back on Char, the Tarantula God was carefully following the current confrontation.
Karmadont laughed maniacally and began to clap his hands like a child: “Just like that the pieces are all in place but who will make the first move I ask?”
“Mahan, do you have any idea what’s going on? ” Stacey asked, simultaneously letting me know that our telepathy was back on line.
“There’s nothing to understand Siren!” Karmadont went on giggling. “The Patriarch, the Emperor and the Dark Lord are trying to pop Barliona pop its very fabric and open a passage for the one true god to pop in the First God, the Tarantula God, the God of Char. And Geranika here is trying to stop them but poor fellow he’s all alone and he’ll be crushed because Eluna and Tartarus cannot interfere for if they do the Tarantula God, the First God will be able to get involved. So all in all when you add it all up and take a step back to appreciate it, you’re about to witness a slaughter of the innocents! Awa-awa-hahaha!”
“Not so fast, you mad traitor!” Two old men appeared next to Geranika. A man and an orc.
“I thought you killed them!” The Emperor of Malabar exclaimed with astonishment. “It can’t be!”
“But it is, Naahti. Anything’s possible in this world,” the ancient orc replied hoarsely. “The throne’s power is not limitless!”
“Three versus three!” Karmadont started clapping again. “What’ll it be, Freemies? Come on and join the party already…By the way! I still haven’t chosen a side either! Now who should I fight with? Ho-hum…let me cogitate…but eureka and but of course! Minions! Defend your ruler!”
The space around us began to vibrate, changing the cave. The walls and the ceiling vanished. We found ourselves in an enormous open area, with Geranika and the old men on the one side facing the Patriarch, the Emperor, the Dark Lord and several dozen enormous Tarantulas on the other. In the center stood the Alabaster Throne with Karmadont. Eluna and Tartarus stood to the side, looking disconsolate and near them stood three players, looking astonished.
“I don’t have enough pieces!” Karmadont went on babbling. “I need more! Slave! Heed my summons and appear you winged nightmare!”
“Sovereign!” the world shuddered as Renox, my Dragon Father, appeared to Karmadont’s call. “I am ready to serve, your lordship!”
Renox had taken the side of the Patriarch.
I was tired of being surprised by all these twists and turns, so when Geranika summoned the Siren Nashlazar and Kronos the Titan, I hardly even reacted. I was drained.
“New pieces!” Karmadont applauded. “It’s too bad there’s so few of you! The game would’ve been so much more interesting otherwise! Have you made up your minds yet, Freemies? You have but one minute!”
“They will choose the right side, traitor!” The Hermit stepped out from Geranika’s back.
“Oh no! Who will save me?!” Karmadont went on chortling. “Barliona herself has dropped in for tea for two…but…but without your husband, you’re nothing! A useless hag! You have neither power, nor energy, nor…Scram, you wench! The adults are busy! What do you say, Keymaster? Look what you’ll get!”
“Well I’ll be damned,” Plinto whispered, reading a system notification only he could see.
“You too shall be blessed, Siren! Look what you’ll get!”
“Hmm…” Anastaria frowned, reading the text.
“Dragon!” Karmadont addressed me. “You are really cracking me up lately. As a result, I will be happy to accept you to my banner! Look what you’ll get!”
You have the option of joining Char. In the event that you accept, you shall receive the following bonuses: +200 to Crafting; +200 to Dragon Rank; +200 to Level; Title of Vicegerent of Char; +200 to Blessed/Cursed Artificer. Do you wish to join Char?
“Aren’t you a craftsman?” Karmadont continued to seduce me. “I shall teach you everything I know. I shall teach to create items like the Imperial Throne! It was thanks to the throne that I managed to enslave the Emperor and the Dark Lord, since the seat of power requires sacrifices, sweet delicious sacrifices, don’t you think?” Karmadont giggled. “There are hiccups, sure, and every once in a while someone escapes the throne’s fetters but this has happened only twice and those are the two standing right there. But look at them, they’re practically decomposing from their advanced age! The throne drained their strengths long ago!”
“Make your decision, my son,” Renox decided to back up Karmadont. “This world is rotten. It must be destroyed to pave the way for a new one built from its ruins! I shall teach you everything I know! You will become the first among my Dragons!”
“Basically, we can become the top players in Barliona,” drawled Plinto, without addressing anyone in particular.
“It’s not like we can prevent the expansion from launching at this point. All that’s left to decide is which side we’ll be playing on,” Anastaria agreed. Both of my friends looked at me. Like I was the one who had to choose.
“The time has come! What did you decide?”
“Stacey, didn’t you solve all of the Chess Set’s riddles?”
“Erm…Yes. Are you sure that this is a good time to be thinking about that?”
“Send me all the solutions, will you please?”
“Here you go…but why?”
“What is your choice, Mahan?” Karmadont cried again. “If you do not make a decision, I will consider you an enemy and…”
I produced the Chess Pieces from my bag. It’s curious — they had been created by Karmadont, who’d infused the essences from the greatest sentients of his era into them. But was that the truth? Had the essences merely been infused? What if these weren’t simply replicas? Something tells me that I’d better check!
The orcs came first. Finding the Chess Piece — I entered ‘13.8175802’ into the text box. The die had been cast!
“I don’t like to play like this!” said Karmadont when eight two-meter-tall orcs came trudging out of the whirlwind that had appeared. Grichin, Grover, Vankhor…Eight great orc Warriors stood before us, their scimitars bared.
“Defend us, oh brothers!” I asked the orcs and reached for the dwarves. If I remember correctly, I’d need to enter…
“Stop him! Kill him! Kill them all!” Karmadont began to scream hysterically and the space around us went dark. The battle began, but I paid it no attention. I had much better things to deal with than watch a fight between some NPCs. I noted the bubble around me, indicating that Stacey was somewhere nearby, but it was useless here. The orcs were protecting me.
The dwarves. The masters. Eight stumpy subjects of the kingdom-under-the-mountain had appeared to my summons.
“The Throne!” I pointed at the hunk of white stone beside us. “It must be destroyed! Only you can accomplish this!”
“Onwards, brothers!” shouted Borhg Goldhand, shifting his hammer from one hand into the other.
“We shall reinforce you!” growled two of the smaller orcs.
“And we shall cover you!” boomed the two Giants.
“We shall escort you!” hissed the Lizards.
“We shall bear you!” whinnied the War Horses.
“We shall suppress the foe for you!” announced the Elves.
“We shall ambush their flankers!” muttered the Trolls.
“I shall summon Spirits to aid you!” said the orc Shaman.
“I shall cast wards to protect you!” proclaimed the Archmage.
>
“I shall lead you!” growled the Leader of the White Wolf Clans.
“I live!” cried Lait.
“Your staff!” I handed Lait the staff that had been charged by the phantoms and only now did I get the chance to look around. Blast it all to hell! I wish I hadn’t.
The army of Tarantulas had summoned a host of terrifying creatures to its banners and was now pushing back Nashlazar and Kronos. Geranika was playing tag with the Patriarch, blinking all over the field of battle, without it being clear who was ‘it.’ The Emperor and the Dark Lord fell upon the old men who, as I had already guessed, were the former Emperor and Dark Lord. The young bloods were fighting the old bloods. Experience or strength? The answer was evident. Renox poured fire and flames onto Plinto and Anastaria, who were aided by the Hermit, and the King and Queen from the Chess Set. The Dragon was toying with his enemies, still at Acceleration I. Hardly had he engaged Acceleration II, when Anastaria and the Archmage collapsed to their knees and blood sprayed from the mouths. The Dragon was too strong for them. Eluna and Tartarus had vanished, but I was sure that they were nearby, watching the battle. Surrounded and protected by the other Chess Pieces, the dwarves were hammering at the Alabaster Throne with their sledges. Cracks had appeared in it. Karmadont had cast aside the Ergreis and set on Lait. And I stood apart, alone without an opponent. Everyone was fighting without holding anything back. But I stood frozen with no idea of whom to help — in my view, we were losing all over the place and everyone could use my help.
DING!
With a deafening ring, the Alabaster Throne shattered into little pieces and two sentients appeared in its place. The Sons of the Creator.
“FREEDOM! AT LAST!” cried Harrashess joyfully and the world winked into darkness. The Progenitor, the god of the Tarantulas, had entered Barliona.
“BARLIONA SHALL FALL! ” came his telepathic roar.
“TO BATTLE, GODS OF BARLIONA! DEFEND YOUR HOME!” Eluna and Tartarus finally entered the battle, accompanied by a myriad of lesser gods. Now the battle was taking place across all levels of being — physical, mental and spiritual. The world began to shudder around us!
“Dan, if you have a plan B, now’s the time!” Anastaria’s hoarse voice sounded in my mind. “We won’t hold much longer! ”
“Thank you for giving me another chance to fight for this world, Mahan! You are a true and worthy Shaman!” A ghost orc suddenly appeared before me. I believe it was Grichin. But before I could say anything, he dissolved like a patch of fog scattered by a gust of wind. Over by the where the throne had been, one of the Chess Pieces collapsed to dust. We were one fighter less.
“Thank you for giving me another chance to fight for this world, Mahan! You are a true and worthy Shaman!”
“Thank you for…”
The Chess Pieces turned to dust one after the other, forcing me to clench my fists. The hell do I care if you think I’m a true Shaman when we’re losing and…
A cold sweat covered me from head to toe.
The strongest of spirits had declared me worthy! Renox was the high lord and I was his son! Plinto wasn’t the Keymaster! I was the Keymaster! All I had to do was tear out my heart and…
THE ERGREIS!
“Stacey, I need a bubble!” I yelled, rushing in the direction where Karmadont and Lait were locked in a death embrace. Shadows whirled around me, lightning, fire, ice, but I was certain that nothing could stop me. For I had protection from all types of damage.
“Stacey’s gone, kid,” Plinto creaked hoarsely. “It ain’t a bubble, but it’ll protect you. Do what you must!”
The same mysterious Disruption Field that had saved me in the arena appeared around me. Plinto gasped and collapsed to the ground with 0 HP. Renox accelerated once again and began to smash through the Hermit’s defenses. Another set of notifications from Chess Pieces declaring me a true and worthy Shaman flashed past my eyes, and then I reached Karmadont…
“It is too bad you came to our world,” Karmadont was standing with his back to me, reveling in Lait’s agony. The Death Knight was being immolated from within, yet the gift, the curse of the Creator still refused to let him die. “You shall beg me for…EH!”
I snatched the Ergreis from the evil Hunter and almost suffocated. Even with my sensory filter set to full, the pain pierced me through and through. My breathing became ragged, circles of light swam in my vision, my consciousness screamed for release, but the Hermit’s hoarse voice pulled me back.
“I shall take your pain, Shaman! You must think. You must feel. You must understand what you are to do! ”
Scenario updated: ‘Burden of the Creator…’
Swiping away the system notification and understanding perfectly well that now was not the time, I yelled to Lait:
“Delay him! Five seconds!”
“Do it, Shaman!” Charred, Lait rose to his feet and locked Karmadont in his embrace. “Five seconds!”
The Eye of the Dark Widow. The item that I had received back in my first months as a Shaman. The item that I had argued so much with Stacey over, the same one that drew the attention of the shadowy factions of Barliona and caused me so many headaches because I didn’t want to sell it. The item that I had wanted to use on Char, to reach the center of power.
How nice it was that I hadn’t done this earlier. For, now, I needed a passage to that red world as much as I needed a breath of air. The world where the Creator’s soul was held.
“NOOOO! ” I managed to hear the squeal of the Tarantula as I dove into the portal. I whipped out the Altarian Falcon, opened the ‘Blink’ input box and entered the cave’s coordinates. How nice it is to know your work so well that you do it reflexively! Let the Mages think about their deeds and misdeeds. I am a Shaman! I only had to feel!
“Submit!” I had no idea how to use the scepter, so I simply pointed it at the nearest Tarantula. “Remove the barrier!”
“Remove the barrier!” the Tarantula echoed obediently and the beam emanating from his head blinked and vanished.
“Submit! Remove the barrier!” I immediately trained the scepter at the next Tarantula. “Submit! Remove the barrier!”
As soon as the last beam vanished, the cage plummeted straight into the red portal beneath it. Eh! Wait a second! I have the crystal! Without thinking much longer, I dived after the cage and — stars began dancing before my eyes — someone had Stunned me for two seconds.
“That belongs to me worm!” Karmadont growled with hatred. “I will open the gateway not you I will open it myself! I am the Keymaster always have been!”
The battle had all but ended. Renox was pouring fire onto Nashlazar and Kronos, the Hermit was dead, Eluna was crawling away from the fire tornado like a broken doll, dragging a dead Tartarus behind her. The old rulers of the Empires were still holding on, but it was clear that they were being toyed with — the Emperor and Dark Lord could finish off the old men whenever they wished. Lait had been cut up to pieces and even the gift of the Creator could not sustain him any longer. As for Geranika…I could see neither him nor the Patriarch, but the general trend suggested that he wasn’t doing so hot either. Plinto and Anastaria had been sent to respawn without leaving their bodies — they were watching to see what would happen. Karmadont raised Lait’s Stinger above me, wishing to send me to respawn, when suddenly everything went still. A snow white portal opened in the air — and two lifeless bodies came falling out of it to the ground. The immortal sons of the Creator had been slain. The Progenitor peeked his head out behind them and Barliona shuddered:
“THIS WORLD SHALL BE MINE! TREMBLE, BARLIONA! YOUR NEW RULER HAS ARRI…WHAT?! N…NOOO!!! ”
The portal began to collapse like something incredibly powerful and unimaginable was sucking it from the other side. The Tarantula twisted and contorted into himself and was pulled back in. There was a pop and a grim notification appeared to everyone:
Mourn, Barliona. The Creator of this world has left his creation forevermore!
The shock wave f
rom the collapsed portal swept across the field of battle, scattering the combatants like some bowling pins. Karmadont flew off somewhere to the side, granting me several moments of life. Trying to use these to the utmost, I crawled over to Eluna. I hadn’t even the strength to stand. Even though I was still in a game, I felt completely shattered.
“We’ve lost, Mahan,” Eluna noticed me and sadness tinged her incredibly beautiful face. “I have no more strength. The Creator has died. His children have died. Our power has been exhausted.”
Eluna collapsed helplessly beside Tartarus. It’s strange but even on the verge of death, the goddess had done everything she could to drag the god of Kartoss away from battle. The Dark God breathed, hoarsely, but he breathed. How can I help two powerless gods? I have no such power, unless that is…
“Eluna! Do you take Tartarus as your lawfully wedded husband?”
“WHAT?!” Eluna found the strength not only to exclaim but even to sit up.
“Do you promise to love and cherish him until the end of time? Till death do you part?”
“Mahan, what is wrong with you?”
“ANSWER ME!” I don’t even know where I found the strength to scream so loudly. The devs couldn’t simply let this couple end up like this. Having killed off all the leading NPCs of this world, they had to come up with something.
“Yes! I do!” Eluna’s shock was so great that she simply agreed to my demand.
“Tartarus! Do you take Eluna as your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to love and cherish her until the end of time? Till death do you part?”
“Yes…I do…” It was difficult to tell what the god was saying through his wheezing, yet I made it out.
“By the powers vested in me by, um, myself — I declare you husband and wife! From now on, you are the supreme deities of Barliona! From now on, you are the Creators!”
I placed the Ergreis into Eluna’s hand and placed Tartarus’ hand on top of it. That was it! Where’s my respawn?
“When are you going to die finally?!” Karmadont cried, appearing beside me. He raised his staff and brought it down directly onto my chest. Sparks erupted from the place where the blow landed and the world went dark. The Gray Lands welcomed me in their gray embrace. Here it is — respawn.
Clans War (The Way of the Shaman: Book #7) LitRPG Series Page 37