War God's Mantle- Underworld

by James Hunter

  Nope. We’d left the Underworld in the care of Persephone, the new goddess of the dead. She’d be a good one. Who better to rule the dead than someone who knew all about life and hope? Winter always surrendered to the greenery of spring, after all.

  Yet both Persephone and Demeter, however much they knew about life, also knew about sorrow and loss. That would help them, as well. And that dark, patient presence that had taken Hades away? That had been Charon’s true boss, Thanatos, an entity far beyond anything we could hope to understand. The nice thing about the Greek gods is that however powerful they were, they were still human in a lot of ways. Things like Thanatos? That was primal stuff, beyond comprehension. With those three running the show, I had no doubt the dead would find the peace or judgement they deserved, and the land of the living would no longer have to worry about monstrous incursions.

  I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and just sat there, leaning back on my hands. After I’d destroyed the sigil, the southern mountain had erupted. Once the volcano stopped spewing, the skies had cleared, and things had become peaceful. Normal, even. It had taken us days on end to sweep up the ash but compared to fighting hordes of hellspawn monsters every eight hours, a little light housework didn’t seem all that demanding. In-between bouts of cleaning and island restoration, we’d eaten, slept, and celebrated with more sex than I’d had in my entire life.

  I scanned the pile of sleeping women nestled in among the sheets and blankets and noticed that Phoebe wasn’t there. Where had she gone at such an early hour? Slipping out of bed, I quietly put on shorts and a T-shirt. Sabra and the girls had grown cotton, so I didn’t have to wear linen, leather, or bronze anymore, not now that the war was over.

  I padded down the steps of my palace, a little hungry but more curious. Phoebe usually slept with us through the night. Myrina wasn’t much for group love, and she liked to sleep alone. I’d learned that the hard way. We’d tried to share a bed one night, just the two of us. She’d spent hours either hitting me or shoving me away. It was clear Myrina suffered from a sleep disorder. It was called night violence. Even in her sleep, that girl liked to fight.

  I messaged my Rune-Caster. Hey, Phoebs, I just woke up, but you aren’t around. Where are you?

  Come to the fountain, she sent back. And hurry! I’ll message Asteria and wake her. We all need to see this.

  Well, shit. That didn’t sound good.

  I jogged through the quiet streets, soft with the dawn, smelling of the ocean and flowers. As part of the restoration process, Sabra had taken to decorating our city with a variety of plants. I helped her by creating all sorts of gardens. It felt weird not having the sigil to protect any more. In fact, Brontia and Steropia were sculpting new statues for the central temple. Instead of one god there, they were going to create five statues for the new round of Olympian badasses.

  And, yes, Sophia had been jealous that Loxo was a goddess now. If Thanatos hadn’t whisked away Hades, I could’ve used the Hammer of Hephaestus to chip away more fragments to create more gods, but apparently that wasn’t meant to be.

  I did put Sophia in charge of the southern city, which we renamed Persephone’s Gate. I’d fashioned another round of Amazons to watch over the rift, just in case any of the Titans that had escaped from Tartarus put in an appearance. Phoebe had filled me in on them. The Titans were the bad gods that the Olympians beat up, then caged in the Underworld. But when that dickbag Hades opened the gates to let out Typhon, the Titans escaped onto the Stair. There were at least six but might be as many as twelve.

  So far, it was all quiet, but in my experience as god of war, it was best to be vigilant and prepared just in case shit hit a god-sized fan. And if things got too out of control, Sophia could always teleport to Lycastia City and alert us, and we’d take care of business. Hippolyta, ever the good sport, also went to live in the new barracks we’d created in Persephone’s Gate. And of course, not only did she have the Vambraces of Boreas, but she also carried the Shield of Perseus in case the situation turned dire.

  As for our other magical items, we decided to use the temple in Lycastia City as our divine armory. That was where we could put the world-destroying weapons we’d found during our adventures: the Crystal Scythe, the Helios Chariot, Athena’s Spear, Poseidon’s Trident, the Talaria, even the Hammer of Hephaestus.

  I ran by the temple and around to the other side.

  We’d left the statue of Ares above the fountain, kind of as a reminder of how not to fight wars. As a reminder of what the cost of ego was. Myrina and Phoebe stood at the water’s edge, staring down into the basin. Both were frowning. Near Phoebe was a complicated piece of machinery, gears ticking. A little window near a crank glowed from the Thymos Crystal powering the contraption. What the hell is that thing? I wondered.

  Asteria came fluttering down, this time as a woman with wings, not unlike the Erinyes we’d fought in the Underworld. Asteria, though, was far bluer and much cuter. The red sliver of Hephaestus’ godstone gleamed in her chest. And now that she had rested and spent a lot of time in the ocean, using the trident to summon dolphin friends for her to play with, she was back to her giggly, carefree self.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  Asteria draped an arm around my shoulder. “Yes, what is the up going down?”

  Phoebe frowned. That’s not a thing.

  Myrina got down to business. “Phoebe, utilizing her enhanced engineering abilities, has created a surveillance system connected to the Stair.” She smiled. “Did I get that right, Phoebe?”

  Perfect, the Rune-Caster sent. I wanted to keep in communication with Persephone, but I was also looking for her mother. Plus, I wanted to keep tabs on the Titans. So far, I haven’t found any of those shitweasels, nor any of the old gods that might’ve survived the Olympian War. But I did find something. She grew pale. “Yeah, um, this is hard.”

  “What is it?” I asked.

  Phoebe looked at Myrina. Asteria stepped back from me. Suddenly, I knew what it was. “You found a way for me to go home.”

  Phoebe nodded.

  The whole peaceful morning turned tense.

  I could see my friends and family again on my version of Earth. I could play video games that didn’t require me to shed blood or sacrifice the lives of my friends. I could have a normal life.

  Or could I? I still had the godstone in my chest. It had been quiet, but I knew it could try to take control of me again. And I’d been having a ton of sex with the Amazons, which kept them, and me, surprisingly happy. Would I really accept Pornhub as a substitute?

  Unlikely.

  No, my fate had been forever changed when Ares shoved the gem into my chest. “Guys, don’t worry, I might visit now that we’ve found where it is on the Stair, but I’m not going anywhere. We’re a team. We’re the new gods.” I offered them a big, goofy grin. “It sounds like a comic book,” I said. “The New Gods!”

  Phoebe sighed. It was a comic book. Jack Kirby anyone?

  Asteria hugged me again. Myrina nodded, a ghost of a smile playing across her lips.

  Phoebe adjusted her engine. “Okay, we found your home, but we also found something else, slightly more ... problematic. Come and look.”

  I bent over the edge of the fountain with Asteria next to me. The waters went milky for a minute, and when they cleared, I once again saw the strange M.C. Escher staircases winding through space and time. Landings flashed, showing exit points, and then one exit came into focus. Like a camera zooming in, we flashed through the tunnels of rock and into a warzone. A demon goddess moved through a burning jungle. Screaming, weeping people ran from her even as blood dripped from one of her mouths. She had three faces, each one a terrifying combination of fangs, tusks, and burning red eyes. A dozen arms held gore-splattered weapons.

  A name came to me. “Kali,” I whispered.

  Phoebe cleared her throat as if that word itself was a choking hazard. “We can’t find any signs of the Greek mythology, but we stumbled upon a sister world that
is being destroyed by gods from the Hindu mythology. And, yeah, genius, that right there is Kali. She creates life. And she destroys it. This is her on one of her bad days.”

  All those people needed our help, clearly, but I only knew a little about the Hindu stories.

  The godstone stirred at the idea of battle.

  We all leaned over the fountain, watching the destruction. She was heading toward a mountain, and in that mountain was a cave—an entrance to the Stair.

  I let out a long breath. Yes, I was a level-thirty god now, thanks to a little help from the Aegletes Crown, but I wasn’t done levelling or fighting. And now that my generals were demigoddesses, they too could continue to grow in power. I thought that after I defeated Hades, the video game I was living would end. But maybe that wasn’t the case. Maybe it was only the beginning of a new adventure. A DLC of epic proportions.

  I said what we were all thinking. “If Kali can get to the Stair, she could try to pull a Hades. We have to stop her.”

  Myrina nodded. “We were not meant to luxuriate slothfully on this island. We were meant for battle.” Those Attribute Points in Intelligence were helping her vocabulary, without a doubt.

  “I was meant for love and laughter and eating,” Asteria protested. “But ...” she faltered, shifting uncomfortably on her feet. “But I do like helping people. And I love being with all of you.”

  I turned to Phoebe. She shot me a finger gun. I was made for loving you, baby. But yeah, helping people is cool too.

  I inhaled deeply. “Semper fidelis.”

  Always faithful.

  I thought I’d given that oath to the Marine Corps, but now it meant something different to me. I had a duty to protect the universe, and to that end, I would always be faithful. I knew my parents would be proud of me, and I’d shown Ares, my Amazons, and myself there were a lot of different ways to be a War God. I now wore that mantle, and in truth, I never wanted to take it off, not as long as I could fight with my Amazons to protect the innocent and save worlds. Yes, plural, because there were a lot of different worlds in the multiverse.

  It was settled.

  I’ll get the forges fired. Phoebe sent. We have Amazons to create.

  Before she could leave, I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. Myrina and Asteria pushed themselves up against us, and I opened my arms for a group hug.

  I was with my generals, my demigoddesses, my Amazons, and there was nothing that could stand against us. All hail the new phaeton, the new gods of war!

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  Looking for more Harem Gamelit? Well, then check out the first book in Nick Harrow’s exciting new Dungeon Bringer series, Dungeon Bringer 1. Or keep reading to take a sneak peek.

  Construct your dungeon. Summon your monster girls. Slaughter your foes.

  WHEN THE INKOLANA CARTEL's experimental computer network comes under attack, they give white-hat hacker Clay Knight two hours to fix the problem.

  If he succeeds, he'll be rich beyond his wildest dreams.

  If he fails, he's a dead man.

  But when Clay hacks the hackers, he stumbles into an ancient ritual that summons him to the dusty, forgotten world of Soketra. In this strange new land, Clay finds dungeons, monsters, and a fierce pride of beautiful cat women who believe he is the reincarnation of the ancient Dungeon Lord Rathokhetra. With a band of bloodthirsty dungeon raiders on his doorstep, Clay must master his new abilities and gather guardians for his territory to save himself and his army of warrior women from a fate darker than death.

  Chapter 1: Meltdown

  SHE CROSSED THE BAR toward me with the lithe strides of a stalking tigress. Candlelight cast her face in shadow, but her eyes glowed with an emerald radiance that drew me to her like a barbed-wire lariat. Musical chimes tinkled against my ears with every step she took, and I wanted her the same way a man lost in the desert wanted water.

  The good news was that she looked like she was just as thirsty for me as I was for her.

  She didn’t say a word when she reached me. She tilted her head back and eased forward until our lips almost touched. Her breath smelled like honeysuckle and cinnamon, and the heat of it wrapped my brain in a warm, moist fog that made it all but impossible to think about anything but her.

  I leaned forward to kiss her, and our lips met with an explosion of pain that dragged me out of the best damned dream I’d had in months. It took me a few seconds to realize why my lips hurt so bad.

  It was the gun barrel a very unpleasant man had shoved into my mouth.

  “You Knight?” the hulking shadow that loomed over my bed asked. He had to be close to seven feet tall and seemed almost as wide. A shaft of light through my open window fell across his heavily tattooed gun hand. The pistol was still pressed up against my lips, and my eyes crossed when I tried to focus on it, but I didn’t need to see any details to know it was big enough to turn my head into extra-chunky salsa if I made a wrong move.

  I considered trying to convince the shadow he had the wrong apartment, but that seemed like a bad plan. If he’d wanted me dead, he wouldn’t have woken me up to seal the deal.

  “That’s me,” I said and did my best not to flinch as my lips scraped across the gun’s muzzle.

  Neither of us moved for what must have been a thousand years. Finally, the gun moved a few feet away from my mouth, but its bore remained centered on my head. Still, I considered that progress.

  “Gotta job for you,” he said. “Get dressed.”

  “I don’t know—”

  “This is a one-time offer, and it expires when I get pissed off.” The man’s gruff voice told me we were very close to that expiration. “You do this, you get a billion dollars. You fuck it up, or you lay there in bed like a slug for a few more minutes, and I’ll introduce you to one of Mr. Shooty’s bullet friends.”

  He tipped the gun’s muzzle up so I could stare down the bottomless black well of its barrel.

  I scrambled out of my warm, comfy bed and onto the cold hardwood floor like an electric eel had just tried to climb up my ass. The freezing shock of the wood against the soles of my feet filled me with the sudden urge to empty my bladder, but there was no time for that. I grabbed the black sweatpants and matching T-shirt that I’d dropped on the floor before climbing into bed a few hours ago and practically dove into them.

  “I’ll need my laptop,” I said as I tried to reach past the big dude to collect my bag off the dresser behind him.

  “No.” He blocked my arm with his massive body. “We’ve got everything you need at the job.”

  I wanted to explain to him that there was no way he knew what I needed. That laptop was loaded with tools I’d built or modified over a decade of security work. Asking me to do my job without that laptop would be like asking a carpenter to build a house without his hands.

&
nbsp; “You don’t understand,” I tried to explain, but the big boy was having none of it. He abandoned the shadows for the rectangle of milky moonlight that spilled through my bedroom window and shoved his pistol into my ribs hard enough to leave a bruise.

  But the gun wasn’t what freaked me out.

  The shadow man was a straight-up monster. His enormous head was as bald as a newborn’s ass, with a brow so heavy it looked like you could break bricks on it. His beady eyes perched above a spade-shaped nose lined with whorls and ridges of flesh, and a pair of cracked tusks jutted from the corners of a gruesome, lipless mouth.

  To top it all off, the dude was a puke shade of green and smelled about the same.

  “We were told you were the best, and that is why I came for you,” he said, his carefully enunciated words at odds with his bestial appearance. “But you have reached the limits of my patience, and I am about to move on to our second choice.

  “After I kill you.”

  If I’d had any doubts about his willingness to put me in the ground, they vanished after one quick glance into his eyes. I didn’t know what had happened to his guy, but whatever nightmare accident had wrecked his face left him looking like a Lord-of-the-Rings-style orc straight out of central casting. He also looked like he might eat me after he shot me in the face.

  “Lead on,” I said. I’d spent more than my fair share of time in the gym, because if you spend all day pecking at a keyboard, you have to do something or you’ll turn into a wad of sugar cookie dough. But I had no illusions that my sparring matches and weight lifting would stand a chance against this legit monster. I was sure he wasn’t actually an orc, but he still looked as big and mean as one of Tolkien’s bad boys.