Corpse Run: A LitRPG Adventure (The Crucible Shard Book 3)

by Skyler Grant

  Walt sat up clutching at his shoulder. “I’m getting sick of dying or almost dying.”

  I raised my shield to protect him as another arrow nearly took him in the head.

  “We aren’t sticking around,” I said, and then raising my voice called out, “Ashley, Maria, over here.”

  The girls arrived after a few moments. Neither seemed to be terribly bothered by the rain of arrows as they moved with fluid grace around the majority that came in their direction.

  Once they got close I reached out a hand to rest on each of their shoulders and nudged Walt with my foot. “The dwarves have this. Get us to Cobalt.”

  Group Teleport

  The world shifted and we were near the group of five and Cobalt. Cobalt was getting the worst of it, her lip split and bloodied, and her shoulder blackened.

  Arkos swung his two-handed sword. Cobalt caught it between her hands and with a twist of her hips delivered a kick to his ribs that sent him flying across the room. It left her vulnerable to a precision strike from Devon, who pierced her back with a rapier dancing with lightning bolts. A cry and a twist, and her fist met his jaw with a resounding crack.

  When we materialized Cala’s eyes flickered between us and she held up a hand. “Let’s talk shall we?”

  Cobalt straightened with a grimace. “Liam, what the hell are you doing here?” Then deep blue eyes met an identical stare. “Maria?”

  “You two, talk. Us two, talk,” I said, and moved over to Cala. Elsewhere the dwarves and elves went right on killing each other. The dwarves had the numbers advantage after our accidental ambush.

  “You’re him, aren’t you? The King of Flames. Bringing of darkness and harbinger of the world’s end,” Cala said.

  “You can call me Liam,” I said, giving her my best flirtatious smile. She didn’t seem impressed.

  “We should be less with the talking and more with the chopping, Cala,” Arkos said.

  “I’m with him,” Ashley said. “Though substitute stabbing. I actually have skills.”

  Maria and Cobalt moved away to get involved in an intense-looking conversation. I was sorry to miss it.

  “I’m Cala. Clearly my companions think it foolish for me to be speaking with you, but I hope that you can be swayed from your course.”

  “And what course do you think it is that I’m on?”

  “One that brings suffering, pain and terror wherever you go. Even from afar tales of your deeds spread, are they wrong? Do you have some justification for the things you have done?”

  This lady was starting out the conversation awfully critical. I didn’t like it.

  “I’m not the one invading and slaughtering everyone,” I said. “You seem to be bringing some suffering yourself.”

  Cala frowned at that. “The Elves pushed this fight, we are but accompanying them. I gather the tensions here have been long simmering and that provocations have been many.”

  I didn’t have any way to refute that. I was barely aware of who these Dwarves even were.

  “Cala, you seem nice even if sadly not very flirtatious, but so far if you’re trying to make a point, you’re failing. We muddled right into a grey area, which has kind of been my life.”

  Cala took a deep breath and tilted her head. “Fine. In your quest for power you have brought considerable hardship and pain to the world with no regard for the consequences. That cannot be allowed to continue.”

  “I’m trying to put things right even now. In the east something terrible is growing and I’m attempting to gather the forces needed to stop it.”

  Cala went silent, thinking.

  Maria stormed over from her conversation with Cobalt and, before I could say anything, slapped me. My ears still ringing from the first blow, she hit me with a second before going still, glaring.

  Cala quirked a brow at me.

  “I murdered her father then slept with her mom. It’s complicated.”

  “The sleeping with I knew about. The getting her with child is something you should have informed me of,” Maria said in a dangerous monotone.

  What? My stomach dropped and the room spun around me.

  Maria slapped me again and stormed off back to her mother.

  “We just tried to kill a pregnant woman?” Devon asked. “Cala, even if she is an evil queen that is beyond the bounds of decency.”

  “I didn’t know,” Cala said, looking at me aghast. “You send her off to do your dirty work in such a condition? What kind of a monster are you?”

  I was finding it rather hard to string words together. How did that even work?

  “YVERA!” I shouted in my head.

  “We’re going to be parents,” came Yvera’s voice in my head, sounding incredibly pleased. That isn’t what I needed. That really is not what I needed. My Goddess was nesting.

  “Cala. You and your companions just did your utmost to murder a pregnant woman. Your group probably wants to yell at each other a bit, and I’ve got women that need to slap me.”

  Cala glared at me and then looked to her companions. Most of the elves were now corpses with only a few holdouts left standing. “Safe passage for us out?”

  “Done. And to Castle Sardonis at some point, if you would care to further discuss matters. Things really are more complicated than they appear.”

  Cala looked me up and down and shook her head. “No. I don’t think so. If one thing is clear, it is that you are a monster using everyone around you. We’ll see each other again, and next time you won’t have your human shield.”

  The gnome wizard, Kelsenfalselfel, reached out to the others and with a flicker the group vanished. Great.

  Quest Completed

  A Bloody Time In The Mines

  You’ve managed to find trouble and bloodshed and come out alive. You also managed to allow a group of heroes to escape your clutches. You would think you would have learned from Barton the Brute to never leave an enemy at your back.

  I looked towards Maria and Cobalt. A few dwarves had joined them. One in a crown was kneeling.

  “So, uh… congratulations?” Ashley said.

  “What is happening over there? Please tell me the dwarf king is not in love?”

  “He is grateful for Maria saving them all and just swore his allegiance to her,” Ashley said. “Weird right?”

  Cobalt had the Right of War and brought conflict with her wherever she went. Maria had the Right of Rule and built empires just by her presence. It wasn’t weird. It should have been, but somehow this was what I should have expected.

  “Not really a surprise. When Cobalt powered down after you slept with her, what else could it have been? Must be nice to have things confirmed though,” Walt said, joining us. Maybe it should have been obvious, but it wasn’t to me.

  “Did she not tell you at all?” Ashley asked.

  “No. She didn’t say a word.”

  Ashley gave my shoulder a squeeze. “Things got crazy. Things are always crazy.”

  “She had time, and things are always going to be crazy around her,” I said. “I don’t even get to be mad at her, do I. Not anymore.”

  “You can be mad,” Ashley said. “Mad is okay. Mad is good. You just don’t get to be an asshole about it. I guess your kid will be software?”

  “Things are a lot more complicated than that,” Walt said. “Mela is still trying to put all the pieces together. Yvera isn’t very good at math and science. I used to think she was, because she was hosted on a computer, but that’s like saying that we’re all good at biology.”

  I was apparently good at biology. “What are you saying?” I asked.

  “Nothing yet,” Walt said, and went silent for a long moment that descended into awkwardness. “Just be careful with this, with her. Things aren’t what they appear.”

  Great. Another worry. Maria and Cobalt were walking over. Maria slapped me again. That was getting old. I took it. I deserved it.

  No, I didn’t. I wouldn’t think that way. I didn’t sink, I wasn’t going to si
nk. I rose above.

  I reached out to brush Cobalt’s cheek with my fingertips and expended a heal. She scarcely needed it at this point, but I wanted to make sure.

  “My daughter needed a reason not to kill me,” Cobalt said. “I should have told you first.”

  “I should have guessed,” I said. “I know there is more to it.”

  “So much more,” Cobalt said. “But we have other problems to deal with first. The biggest war of your lifetime is coming, Liam. But we’ve got this little one to deal with first. I understand you’ve gone from hunting Leosi to wanting to recruit him.”

  “I guess we have. Know where we can find him?”

  “I don’t, but Lea will be able to locate him,” Cobalt said. “I’m guessing he is not far. I got word the Elves were on the move and wanted to investigate, wandering right into the middle of this.”

  “Father will have moved to defend the border, if he felt it in danger,” Maria said, and slapped me again.

  “Enough,” I said. “I deserved those, but enough.”

  Maria stared at me for a long moment and gave the most imperceptible of nods.

  “One big happy family,” Cobalt said.

  We sort of were now. I really hoped we’d get attacked soon. I wanted something to kill.

  We’d been doing quite a bit of fighting in the caves and I noticed a level indicator blinking away. I decided to address it before we moved on.

  Congratulations!

  You have reached level 13

  You have one stat point to assign. As a Paladin of Yvera you have gained a further 15% skill to Barter. As the Chosen of Yvera you have further gained 1 point of Luck. Due to your attunement you have an increased presence in the physical world and have gained 1 point in both Power and Endurance. You have further gained enhancements to the following abilities…

  Zealous Blow: Zealous Blow now restores a fraction of damage dealt using the ability as health.

  You have gained an enhancement to an innate ability…

  Blessed Nature: Because of your divine nature a bonus is added to all persuasion, seduction, and barter challenges.

  Anything that would help me to stay healed in a fight was welcome. I didn’t use Zealous Blow all that much but perhaps I should start. My innate gave me another boost to things I was already quite good at. I sank the point from this level into Charisma.

  Name: Liam Ottani

  Class: Paladin of Yvera

  Deity: Yvera

  Titles: Chosen of Yvera, King of Genea, Admiral Flame

  Level: 13

  HP: 430/430

  Stamina: 190/90

  Mana: 80/80

  XP: 12 of 1000 to next level

  Alignment: -1000

  Stats

  Power: 19 (+7) Endurance: 19 Dexterity: 2

  Intelligence: 8 Awareness: 6

  Charisma: 15 Luck: 9

  Skills

  Long Blades: 90

  Blunt Weapons: 16

  Hand to Hand: 12

  Mounted Combat: 15

  Light Armor: 15

  Medium Armor: 29

  Heavy Armor: 17

  Persuasion: 40

  Seduction: 78

  Meditation: 4

  Barter: 31

  Shield Use: 18

  Arson: 12

  Double Attack: 2

  Blademaster: 1

  Spells

  Smite

  Sense Virtue

  Lay on Hands (3 uses per 4 hours)

  Bless Water

  Bless

  Divine Steed

  Divine Power

  Zealous Blow

  Holy Object

  Innates

  Blessed Nature

  Fire Resistance: 50%

  Sense Alignment

  Fire Within

  Fueling the Flame

  Aura of Destruction

  Aura of Kings

  Burning Down the House

  Feast of Flames

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  We found the Vainglory on the surface. While Cobalt fought below it seemed Riggs and Lea had been in a pitched battle with an Elvish airship, a great balloon that the Elves flew.

  It seemed the enemy had withdrawn when Cala and her friends made their exit. It was a shame, I was sure my fire magic would do wonders against a balloon.

  No sooner were we aboard than Maria and Cobalt both went to their respective cabins and locked themselves in. Good. I know I had things I needed to work out with both of them and a lot of questions for Cobalt, but right now I didn’t want to deal with any of the Sardonis women. I went in search of Lea.

  I found her on the deck. The runes upon her skin were fully lit. The scrying windows everywhere in front of her meant she was looking for something.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Hey,” Lea said, motioning to a crate nearby. “You look beat up.”

  I settled myself down. “A lot has happened since we last saw each other.”

  “Need to talk about it?”

  “Every time I think I’m getting a handle on things and seizing control of my own destiny, I seem to make things worse,” I said. “I kind of unleashed the apocalypse.”

  “Literally or figuratively? No judgment, just helps to know,” Lea said.

  “Literally.”

  Lea grunted, “Been there.”

  I stared at her. That didn’t seem very likely.

  Lea caught my look and laughed. “Seriously. Travel with Cobalt and stuff happens. It wasn’t here obviously.”

  “Is it true the Vainglory can travel between worlds?” I asked.

  Lea gave me a stare and after a few moments shrugged. “We try to keep that quiet, but yeah. We get around. We’ve been here for a while, because Cobalt hoped to change her fate. How did you destroy the world?”

  “Let loose a Goddess everybody said would destroy the world,” I said, and sheepishly added, “First thing she did on getting out was set things in motion to destroy the world.”

  “Don’t have to be a seer to see that one coming,” Lea said. “Why’d you do it?”

  “Yvera.”

  Lea nodded and looked back to her portals.

  “No snide comments?” I asked.

  “You think you deserve them?”

  Didn’t I? What was I even doing here? Had we never come into this world, a lot more innocent people would be alive.

  “Remember our talk about Cobalt being the hero in our particular stories?” Lea asked.

  “Hard to forget. I argued with you about it.”

  “You were right,” Lea said quietly. “You know who spends their lives agonizing about the effects of every possible decision? Cowards. You know who acts and becomes paralyzed by the results of what they’ve done? Failures.”

  That was harsh. It was getting me a bit bumped up, but it was harsh.

  “So, you’re saying I shouldn’t feel guilt,” I said.

  “Feel it, if you deserve it. But I’ve traveled a lot, Liam. I’ve seen a lot. I felt a lot of guilt and later decided it was stupid. The only things I’ve ever really been ashamed of was not acting out of love, not standing by my friends and my family when they needed me. The rest of it?” Lea shrugged again. “It doesn’t last.”

  There was truth in those words. I could hear it, I could feel it. They may not be the whole of the truth, but they’d do for now.

  “Do you have a location on Leosi yet?” I asked.

  “Yeah. About that, go knock on doors and get everyone together. We’ve got a problem and I’d rather brief everyone all at once.”

  *****

  Half an hour later we all convened in the Captain’s cabin.

  “Thanks for coming everyone. We’ve walked right into the middle of a war,” Lea said.

  “The Elves are making a big move instead of a small one?” Cobalt asked.

  “The Elves have crossed the border with seventeen airships armed with ballista and battle mages. A few days back, from what I can tell, the majority of the Elv
ish army began marching on Galea,” Lea said.

  “Fuck,” Ashley said.

  “Leosi has engaged them but is struggling,” Lea said.

  “We can handle this many,” Cobalt said. “Get us close to an airship and I go over. We just need to do that seventeen times and we take out their air support.”

  “No,” Maria and I said in unison.

  “I’m not suggesting I take on the whole army single-handed. It’s just a ship’s compliment,” Cobalt said.

  “Mother, you are as foolish as you are old and promiscuous. You could not handle five adventurers,” Maria said.

  It was good to see them getting along.

  “We’d hoped to have you in the fight for longer, but you clearly aren’t. Maria is right,” I said.

  “If the plan isn’t me killing everything, then we don’t have one,” Cobalt said.

  “Father will have a plan,” Maria said confidently.

  “How is he doing, Lea?” I asked.

  “Poorly, he has an army of skeletons and zombies and is going against airships. He lacks a counter,” Lea said.

  “Amazing he is holding up at all. He’s built a force to wage a ground campaign. Hitting him with this much force from the air isn’t something he would have expected,” Cobalt said.

  “You don’t think he stands a chance?” I asked.