My health fell into the red zone, but I still flew back to try to stop the monster. The air rushed in my ears and the wind beat my face—I flew with all my strength to make it back, but there was no time…
Mere moments remained until Tiamat’s temple would fall. The scene to follow will go down as one of the most heroic deeds of Dis history. Two seconds remained until the Conjoining of Souls dispersed. The monster took five steps and it was at the temple, but then Gyula stepped out, fired off his crossbow, and… and hit, in spite of the massive level difference! I didn’t know what slowing or microstunning bolt the demon hunter had fired, but the Coiyoinmg of Souls stopped for half a second, then wasted another half a second to sweep away Gyula, and that decided the outcome. The giant failed to hit the temple.
The Conjoiriing of Souls fell apart, dissolving back into the ten preventers. The experienced fighters, still the best of the best, immediately spread out and ran at the temple, avoiding combat. They tried to break through, but now there were nine times fewer of them than us. To avoid killing the wiiole raid if I died, I left the group.
Sleepi7ig Vi7idicatio7i removed the remainder of the preventers’ shields and defensive artifacts, and from that moment we rained down our entire arsenal of abilities on them. Infect fired off slowing songs, making our enemies’ ears bleed. My Ghastly Howl forced them to run around in Fea7 but not for long: all the preventers had amulets to remove control effects.
Thirty Yoruba soldiers attacked Hinterleaf at once, so I headed for the closest to me—Joshua, leader of the Children of Kratos. I punched his teeth into his throat, then heard the hopeless scream of Nergatosh the vampire ore nearby: “Noo-o-o-o!”
Bomber chuckled, and nothing more came from the fallen Warsong leader but a wheeze and bubbling blood. Our titan warrior had reached such heights that he could one-shot a top player.
Joshua survived a moment longer than Nergatosh, and had just enough time to throw a powerful bomb at the altar. It didn’t explode right away, and Bolo the minotaur from Yoruba managed to jump onto it, covering it with his body. Without the protection of Path of Sacrifice, the explosion obliterated Bolo into a bloody mist, but dropped the temple’s durability by only one percent.
Crawler successfully dealt with Vivian by surrounding her with a wall of flame. Joshua’s spouse screamed in despair, tried to break free, decided to jump over the fire, but died, burning to a crisp.
Yemi lit up the elf dragon fighter Glyph with brown flame as he fought one of the shaman’s dolls. The leader of the Azure Dragons held a swollen green orb in his hand and was trying to reach the temple with it. When he realized he wouldn’t make it, he threw the artifact at Yemi. The mage split into molecules and his doll familiar broke down to dust, but Glyph himself didn’t get any further. By then, Babangida the ogre had just finished thrashing the life out of Colonel and switched to the Azure Dragons leader; he waved his hammer and beat the dragon fighter down into the burnt sand.
Standing back to back, Horvac and Motark tried to break through. They cut down Irita as she blocked their path, but Francesca, now half a hundred levels higher than the pair, easily demolished both the ore and the ogre.
The two neutrals, Fang the gnoll and Adda the dryad, summoned mounts and tried to take off, but someone from Yoruba threw a net on them and nailed it to the ground with metal shards descending from the sky. The neutrals didn’t last more than two seconds after that.
The only survivor was Hinterleaf. The gnome must have had Crag’s buff. I couldn’t see him anywhere, but nothing else could explain the Modus leader’s huge supply of health. By now, the mage had put down almost the entire Yoruba raid with a series of mass spells, but he hadn’t reached the temple. He stood, assessing his chances, frowned. His eyes found me.
“Just a percent and a half… Scvth and you others… remember that there is a reason for your victory. Greed! One of our allies kept back a spare Armageddon scroll! That damn Glyph kept his artifact that could destroy any building to the very end! If he’d given it to one of the stealthers, the temple w^ould be destroyed! But no! Glyph wanted to complete Nergal’s quest himself! If only…”
While Hinterleaf gave his speech on human greed, I looked at my allies: after just defeating the united armies of civilized Dis, under the protection of the two strongest New Gods, they listened to the famous Modus leader open-mouthed. Did they at least realize that they were famous now too?
Babangida was the first to get it. He laughed, cut off the mage:
“Enough, old man! You lost. And that’s all we need to know!”
When the fire descended on Hinterleaf, he didn’t even tiy to defend himself. The old man was broken. He died without resisting.
The battle was over. A haze hung in the air. Only black craters remained of Tiamat’s oasis, but we’d done it. We’d protected the temple!
The surviving healers started reviving the dead raid group. Unfortunately, they couldn’t return the guardians to life. A scream tore me from my grief.
“There’s someone still there!” Yemi pointed.
Around three hundred yards from us, I saw the silhouette of a lone warrior. Focusing on it, I smiled.
“I’ll take care of this one.”
I flew to the last survivor of Nergal’s army of two hundred thousand—Tobias Asser, also known as Crag the warrior.
He tensed at first when he saw me, then smiled, waved.
“Hey, Scyth! This is becoming a good tradition,” he said, shaking my hand. “Did you win?”
“Yep. Why’re you here?”
“Modus’s strategists came up with the bright idea of burying me in the sand. Officially I was in the raid and buffing them, but I was actually just hiding from the allies. I see you’re alive again!”
“Yeah. Had to part ways with the Destroying Plague. You wanna rejoin us?”
“I really do,” he nodded. “But Hinterleaf and I have a deal until the event ends. After that, of course, they’ll want to eliminate me and I’ll try to escape… But even if I manage it, I’m afraid Nergal won’t approve, haha!”
“Whatever happens, Toby, even if you end up playing a new character, you’re always welcome,” I said. “Don’t doubt it for a second—your place is in the Awoken.”
“Thanks…” Crag looked around, businesslike. “Well, I’ll hit you first so Nergal doesn’t get excited, then you kill me as usual, okay?”
The warrior had reached level two hundred and six by buffing the Modus raid groups in the Lakharian Desert, but it still only took one hit to send him back to the graveyard.
I returned to my friends, looked at their grubby smiling faces, shook them and my allies by the hand. Then I remembered those we’d lost. Flaygray, Nega, Anf, Ripta, Patrick O’Grady… The sewer troggs of the Stone Rib, the ores of the Broken Axe… They were all dead, along with a thousand of the best mercenaries and gladiators from the Goblin League.
“We Yoruba will start gathering loot, I think,” Yemi told me, touching me by the shoulder. “There’s a great deal of loot!”
“We’ll help,” Crawler said.
They wandered through the battlefield, black and white with char and bones. I returned to Gvula to start restoring the temple right away. To my surprise, Tiamat was nowhere to be seen.
Gyula and I hugged. But he wasn’t smiling, and he didn’t say what I expected to hear.
“Something has happened at the fort, Alex. One of our boys contacted us, but didn’t give me any details—the connection cut out. I had other things to think about during the battle, but now nobody is answering me. Everyone is offline, even my sister Stephanie, and her shift only just started…”
The workers’ nicknames in the clan tab were all gray—offline. Feeling an insidious chill, I started casting Depths Teleportation.
“I’ll go see what’s happened. In the meantime, you restore the temple…”
The fort’s sole street looked lifeless. The Pig and Whistle tavern and all the buildings were destroyed. The Tree Protector w
as snapped and burnt. Not only that, but I couldn’t see any kobolds or noncitizens. The only surviving structure was Behemoth’s temple, but something was wrong with it too.
I landed and shock gripped my heart. A stick}’ slime covered the temple’s roof and columns. I couldn’t feel Behemoth’s presence. I walked around the temple and saw a small Plague Portal.
“I knew you’d come,” Mogwai’s acid voice carried down from above me. I raised my head and saw him sitting cross-legged on the temple roof. “How are things in the Desert, Scyth?”
“Where are my people?”
“People? Don’t make me laugh. Inwinova and kobolds. I put down ever last one of those whining dog creatures, even the cubs, and turned the inwinova undead. Didn’t you know that we need workers? One problem solved. By the way, how did you manage to turn yourself alive again?”
“How did you get to the island, dro?”
“Ah…” The Supreme Legate of the Destroying Plague spread his arms theatrically. “So rude! But what should I expect from an uneducated oaf? No, former legate, my secrets will remain mine.” Mogwai chuckled, cracked his knuckles, stretched his neck and grinned. “We aren’t going to make the same mistake twice. All the legates are acting independently, which means that now, we’re immortal…”
He whistled. A hoarse howling came in answer. The bushes rustled and kobold zombies began to wander out of them with dull growls. Their levels were low. The Supreme Legate just wanted to distract me. And, of course, upset me.
I flew some distance away, thinking furiously. How could I kill someone who couldn’t die? That thought hadn’t left my head since the Nucleus gained its new legates and gave my old position to Mogwai. I’d thought of a solution, but would it succeed…?
The undead druid took on his beloved bear form, now rotting and showing bones. He jumped from the temple roof and headed toward me.
“I don’t know how you reinforced the temple,” he growled. “But I had to get the Nucleus involved to start destroying it. A slow process, but a sure one. By morning, the entire island will be a Stronghold of the Destroying Plague, and the temple will be absorbed… Oh, and I got a nice reward for it—the Legate s Crown.
Mogwai activated Subjugate Mind. Liberation prevented the undead druid from taking control of me.
I flew up, gaining speed. He had to touch me to… My flight suddenly stopped! My character hung in the air and flickered.
Emergency exit activated: external immersion capsule command interface in effect!
Exiting in: 3…
“Stop right there!” Mogwai roared, seeing that I was about to be ejected from Dis.
The white flash of Plague Fury blinded me. When my vision returned, all I could see was the intragel of my capsule receding.
A tall man stood behind the glass. He wore a stealth suit that made him almost blend into the background.
“Cargo found,” the unfamiliar man said into a radio, pulling the capsule door open. “Extraction.”
“Confirming extraction,” came the crackling answer.
Chapter 21: New Hope
THE MAN STRETCHED out a hand and poked me in the chest. My eyes darkened and the world lost its color.
My vision fragmented and I closed my eyes…
Spontaneous Divine Revelation activated!
With my eyelids still glued shut, I felt dry desert air, heard the beat of drums and the challenging call of horns. I hung above the temple, surrounded by NergaTs army. The only thing different about this branch of reality was that Tiamat the two-headed dragon was no longer beneath me.
“You see those too, Scyth?” Crawler’s voice squawked from the comm amulet. “The Aspects of Light. Last time they appeared was during the Swarm War. How big are they? Around two hundred feet tall?”
I was back at the start of the battle! But how did Divine Revelation show what happened out of Dis? Which event was it that the Sleepers considered critical and gave me a chance to replay?
“Yeah, something like that,” Yemi answered for me. “Those creatures are always a hundred levels above the highest-level player in Dis.”
“Is that legal?” Infect asked.
Bomber’s concerned voice interrupted the chatter:
“Hey, Scyth, are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay!” I shouted into the comm amulet, finally realizing where and when was. “Everyone back to the temple right now!”
Fortunately, they didn’t ask questions. I sprinted to the troggs and Morena’s cultists, and, brooking no objection, ordered them to return through the portal back to Kharinza. Next I darted to the ores of the Broken Axe and ordered them to do the same. Their chief Sarronos struck his chest with his fist and roared that only cowards retreat, and the ores of the Broken Axe were no cowards, but I threatened to remove them from the Sleepers’ protection. That worked. The ores, their armor and weapons clanking, ran to the portal to Shad’Erung.
Our retreat provoked trills and joyous cries from the enemy. I didn’t care. With great relief, I saw the guardians and Patrick. Alive. I couldn’t repeat the battle anyway; I just didn’t have time before Mogwai’s attack, and, if it really did happen, the strangers’ arrival on Alaska. And without me, the temple wouldn’t survive.
I took the boys aside and told them what threatened us. Their already serious faces now looked even more stressed. Veins were standing out on Bomber’s head.
“We’ll have to sacrifice Tiamat’s temple,” I reasoned. “We’re going to jump to Kharinza, and all of you log out of Dis. Tell the security officers what I saw. In the meantime, I’ll put an end to Mogwai.”
“Are you sure you can?” Crawler asked.
“No. But it’s worth a try…”
After waiting for the mercenaries, ores, troggs, guardians and Yoruba to leave, I pulled the goblin portal beacon out of the sand. The spatial rifts leading to Kharinza and Shad’Erung drew closed.
Right after that, the boys and I cast Depths Teleportation to the fort. They logged out to warn the security officers. I hovered above the fort, still whole for now, awaiting the Supreme Legate of the Destroying Plague. I sent the NPCs to hide in the jungle and asked the workers to log out of Dis.
I didn’t have to wait long. The smacking sound characteristic only of Depths Teleportation rang out from right by the tavern. Just as I feared, Tissa appeared on Kharinza, and on Mogwai’s arm.
Before they could get their bearings, I sent Tissa to sleep with Lethargy, then shot straight down on the Supreme Legate like lightning, grabbed him and jumped with him to the former castle of the Widowmakers. Right into the basement where Eileen kept me prisoner.
Mogwai fired off Plague Fury, but that just activated my Equanimity. The explosion hit the walls, but they withstood.
My extreme strength stats let me keep a death grip on the exploding druid. I dragged him into the cell where I once languished in the Widowmakers’ care. Gangster-like goblins from the Green League were already leaping into action.
“What the hell are you doing? You can’t kill me! Idiot!” Mogwai spat, but no matter how he struggled, his abilities weren’t working here. “I’ll grind you into powder! Now I know where you’re hiding, and I’ll kill you all!”
While he screamed and spat in rage, the nimble goblins quickly enchained him with magic shackles.
“Go, Scyth,” one of the goblins squeaked. “We can take it from here.”
I did just that, and the goblin switched on an energy field. The Supreme Legate of the Destroying Plague was imprisoned, and couldn’t get out on his own.
“Thanks,” I said to the goblins. “Give my warm regards to Kusalarix!”
Without wasting another second, I logged out of Dis.
All the security officers except Willy were already waiting for me, fully outfitted and loaded with bags.
As soon as I emerged from my capsule, Hairo spoke:
“Sergei hasn’t detected any flyers, but we’re not going to risk it anyway. We’re leaving, Scyth.”
&
nbsp; I fell to my knees, but Hung and Hairo picked me up. We went down into the house’s basement, and there Yoshi opened a secret passageway leading into a narrow tunnel. We had to crawl along it.
It took almost an hour. My elbows and knees were bloody and I was a confirmed claustrophobe by the time we finally emerged from the tunnel. It was dark, and Hairo switched on a flashlight. We found ourselves in a small hangar, with an old cargo flyer waiting for us under a canvas in the center. It didn’t look safe—battered, dented, rusty. Hung echoed my thoughts: “You want us to take this wreck? Does it even fly?”
“This ain’t no wreck,” Yoshi chuckled, getting in the driver’s seat.
“It’s a Barracuda, just as good as a Shark. The rust and scrapes are fake. It has a camouflage field and stealth cover too—we’ll fly invisible.”
“Where to?” I asked.
“Cali,” Hairo answered. “The base isn’t done yet, but it’s liveable…”
Squashed in between my bodyguards Roj and Maria, I fell asleep for a couple of hours. Then I woke up, drank some coffee from a flask, ate a warmed-up sandwich and asked them to switch the news on.
“One sec,” Yoshi said.
“How are Ed, Malik and Pollvanna?”
“They’re in the air,” Hairo answered. “We’re in touch. By the way, your vision… Strange as it is, you weren’t wrong. The security system missed both a perimeter violation and a forced entry into the house. We watched the security feed in the flyer; the assault squad traveled overground on skis. They fooled the system with a device that mimics reindeer lifesigns. They were wearing holomasks, but we’re sure they were Triad mercenaries. Pros, no doubt about it.”
“What stops them from getting into our base in Cali?” I asked.
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