Enemy of the Inferno (Disgardium Book #8): LitRPG Series

by Dan Sugralinov

  Apophis, summoned by Yemi, refuses Scyth outright at first. Then Scyth summons the Montosaurus. The ancient dinosaur serves as proof that the young man is capable of going toe to toe with the ancient snake. Apophis decides not to test this and fulfills the request.

  Once on Terrastera, Scyth tests out the artifact Isis’ Blessing. For a day, it creates perfect weather conditions within a fifty yard radius, without the acid rain debuffs of the toxic continent. Once certain that his living friends would not die there and could safely level up, Scyth brings in not only the Awoken, but also the three priests from Yoruba.

  He hands in the quest to build a second temple to Tiamat and earns two new divine abilities: Sleeping Justice, which increases Scyth’s stats if he is attacked first, and Assistance of the Sleepers, which restores health, mana and vindication for killing an enemy.

  The orc Sarronos, chief of the Broken Axe, is eager to defend Tiamat’s temple. Morena’s cultists and the troggs want to do the same, impressed by the taming of the Montosaurus. The goblin woman Kusalarix responds to Scyth’s request to help move several thousand sentients to Tiamat’s temple and gives him a portal beacon and two coins that activate one-hour portals. Scyth appoints Kusalarix as a priestess of the Sleepers. In response, the goblin agrees to send a thousand of her best mercenaries and Arena gladiators to protect the temple, and to help the Awoken build a castle on Kharinza.

  Grinding on Terrastera exceeds all expectations: Yemi, Babangida, Francesca, Crawler, Infect and Bomber reach level four hundred and sixty. Gyula gets to level four hundred. Irita, who just emerged from the sandbox, reaches level three hundred along with Patrick. In addition, they make a First Kill and get Dalezma Egg, which Scyth gives to Infect, and he cracks the egg at the place of power.

  The army of Light begins its attack on Tiamat’s temple, news of which Nega the succubus relays to Scyth. The Awoken teleport to the temple.

  Tiamat creates an oasis for a mile around, allowing the living to survive in the desert without Nergal’s blessing. She removes the undead curse from Scyth and his friends, along with the guardians and all the non-citizen workers. They are alive again. In addition, Tiamat restores Sharkon, the undead Underground Terror, back to life, along with Crusher, the undead wolf from Gloomwood. The fates of these creatures are inseparably linked to Scyth, and they become his battle pets.

  The orcs of the Broken Axe, the sewer troggs and Morena’s cultists portal in to protect Tiamat’s temple. They are joined by mercenaries and Arena gladiators from the Green League, sent by the goblin Kusalarix.

  Apart from a hundred thousand players, the temple is also besieged by King Bastion’s soldiers and Emperor Kragosh’s legions, the high priests of Nergal and Marduk, and the immortal Aspects of Light and Colossi of Darkness.

  With great losses, Scyth manages to hold the temple. The guardians, the orcs of the Broken Axe, the troggs and Patrick O’Grady all die permanently in the battle.

  Gyula reports that one of the workers tried to contact him, but the builder couldn’t answer in the heat of battle, and now there is silence from the fort on Kharinza. Feeling that something is amiss, Scyth teleports there and finds the fort destroyed, Behemoth’s temple captured by the Destroying Plague, and the kobolds and non-citizens turned undead. Scyth encounters Mogwai, who is certain that he can now kill the former legate alone and eliminate the Threat.

  At that moment, the emergency exit procedure from his capsule is activated by an unknown man. Scyth realizes that his nightmare is coming true in real life, but at that moment everything disappears, and he finds himself in the Lakharian Desert again, at the beginning of the battle. Everything that happened over this time was a manifestation of Divine Revelation.

  Scyth decides to sacrifice the temple so that his allies can stay alive, defend the fort and have time to leave their shelter in Alaska in case Divine Revelation had, through some miracle, shown what would happen even in the real world. The temple is left undefended, but Scyth not only manages to defend the fort — which, as it turns out, Mogwai reached with Tissa’s help, — but also succeeds in taking Mogwai to a magical cell in the basement of the former Widowmakers castle, where Eileen had kept Scyth prisoner. The castle now belongs to the Green League, but Kusalarix has agreed to help.

  Alex, Hung and the security officers hurry to leave the house in Alaska and fly away to Cali Bottom. Ed, Malik and Willy are headed there too. On the way, they check the news: Tiamat’s temple has been destroyed, Nergal’s event is over, and the Destroying Plague faction, now joined by several dark gods, has become officially available to players.

  Racking his brains to figure out how Tissa, who was in the sandbox, could have met with Mogwai, Alex remembers another former emissary of the Destroying Plague, Polynucleotide, Big Po, and decides to meet with him.

  Disgardium 6: Path of Spirit

  Dark elf Eileen, leader of the Widowmakers, helps Criterror to free Mogwai, leader of the Elites and Supreme Legate of the Destroying Plague. In exchange, Mogwai promises to make her the ninth legate.

  On the way from Alaska to Cali Bottom, Alex Sheppard meets Wesley Cho, Big Po, former leader of the Axiom clan. Wesley has adopted a new game nickname — Polydeuces. Alex agrees to bring him into the Awoken in exchange for information on how Big Po became a Herald of the Destroying Plague.

  The clan members settle into the building they bought in Cali Bottom. Hairo Morales, considering himself responsible for Alex’s physical condition and health, insists that the boy start physical training.

  Returning to Disgardium after the flight, Scyth falls into an ambush by Eileen and Mogwai. He almost manages to escape, but the dark elf girl summons her protector, the dark god Innoruuk, who neutralizes Scyth. Mogwai kills him, but is prevented from dealing the final strike of the banishment ritual by Eileen, who wants to do it herself. This hiccup saves Scyth, who, thanks to Second Life, revives on Kharinza.

  The followers of the Sleepers seethe after Scyth gives up Tiamat’s temple without a fight, but Behemoth tells them that his Initial made the right decision and saved many lives in so doing.

  The Sleeping God then gives Scyth a new quest — to destroy the Nucleus of the Destroying Plague. To do this, he must get Concentrated Life Essence, which can be obtained only by becoming champion of the Demonic Games and dedicating another two temples to the Sleepers. With the power of three temples, Scyth will be able to destroy the Nucleus.

  Until the Games, the life essence is kept in the elvish capital, in the palace of King Eynyon, and it reaches full strength only when the names of all the contestants become known. With its help, a sentient can give a significant boost to certain character stats, but the nature of the essence is such that it loses its properties if obtained dishonestly.

  But how is Alex to reach the lair of the Nucleus? After all, the weather debuff on Holdest is deadly to anyone without cold resistance. Scyth performs a range of experiments, but they all fail: Second Life doesn’t lift the frost debuff after revival; Jenkins, a Grand Master of Cooking who Scyth contacts for help, is unable to invent a new dish to protect against the weather; and even the giant haulers, who Scyth hires to try to fool the system using Sleeping Invulnerability in a raid group, turn out useless, because the Path of Sacrifice of Resilience transfers all the frost damage to Scyth, protecting the giants. Behemoth recommends that Scyth ask Fortune for help. In ancient times, the Goddess of Luck was friendly with Hodr, the Old God of Winter.

  An elite crew of dwarven builders sent by Kusalarix arrives on Kharinza. They are there to erect a top-tier castle for the Awoken, but in order to protect their trade secrets, they need everyone to leave the island first.

  The clan moves to the neighboring isle of Mengoza, where Scyth once spent time grinding in the Nether. There, Infect finds some Ruins of the Departed and begins an excavation.

  Suspecting that someone in the top clans might have Concentrated Life Essence, Scyth comes up with a plan to attack the castles of the Alliance of Preventers. He invites
the Yoruba and Taipan clans to participate in the looting. Yemi gladly agrees, but the Taipan leader Pecheneg, also known as Sergei Polotsky, who Alex met at Distival in Dubai, counsels against haste. He asks Scyth to visit him in castle, and sooner rather than later.

  There, the secret of Otto Hinterleaf, leader of Modus, is revealed. As it turns out, the real Otto is the leader of Taipan, while Sergei Polotsky rules Modus under the guise of Hinterleaf. This happened because Otto tried to betray the Russian oligarch Polotsky, who (back when this was still possible) took from Otto not only the clan, but even his character.

  Having opened up to Scyth, both ask for his help. Mogwai, after losing all his money for changing his in-game faction, is blackmailing the Alliance, threatening to take their castles. The Awoken, Taipan and Modus, joined by the Travelers and their leader Horvac, enter into an alliance against the undead. As a gesture of good will, Hinterleaf gives Scyth Heat Resistance Potions recently developed by Modus alchemists for the Lakharian Desert.

  Scyth learns from Hinterleaf that Concentrated Life Essence cannot be found anywhere. All the essences obtained in the previous Demonic Games have been used.

  Behemoth demands that the Plague Vector in the instance on Kharinza be cleansed. Trixie the gardener tags along with the group of Awoken officers. The clan kills Uros the lich and gets the Surprise perk for the First Kill.

  In the meantime, Modus builds a cell that blocks abilities in the basement of their castle. Scyth takes Mogwai there, and then, taking on his form, detonates Plague Fury scrolls to showcase the horrifying power of the Destroying Plague to the people of the Commonwealth and the Empire, and most importantly, to King Bastian the First and Emperor Kragosh. In so doing, he collects enough Spheres of Serendipity to complete his quest from the Goddess of Luck.

  Fortune names Scyth her chosen one and rewards him with the status of Fortune’s Favorite and the divine ability Wheel of Fortune, which judges the deeds of the target sentient, and, depending on the verdict, either lowers or increases their level by a random number.

  Remembering Behemoth’s words, Scyth asks how to overcome the frost of Holdest. Fortune remembers that the higher demons of the Inferno possess Coals of Hellflame, which are capable of melting the snows on Holdest.

  Scyth decides to somehow reach the Inferno. Flaygray the satyr and Nega the succubus are from there, so Alex speaks to them. They try to convince him to change his mind, but he insists, and then the former guards suggest they find someone who has sold his soul to demons, kill him and journey to hell in his place. The guardians disguise themselves as humans and set off in search of such a sentient.

  Wanting to help Scyth, the Goblin League creates a range of traps for the legates of the Destroying Plague inside mountains, in naturally enclosed caverns in the rock. Scyth, Bomber and Crawler make portal routes to them.

  With Scyth as mediator, Irita (Rita Wood, who previously played with the nickname Overweight), takes over the Awoken’s trading operations and meets auctioneer Grokuszuid.

  Kusalarix gives Scyth a Faded Coin for contacting a certain stranger very eager to meet the top Threat. Scyth activates it in the desert and is immediately attacked by someone invisible. Unable to finish Scyth off, the invisible man appears and falls to his knees, begging forgiveness for his ‘audacious demonstration.’ It turns out that Hiros the ninja is also a Threat, and he seeks Scyth’s protection.

  After this, Crawler takes on Hiros. The clan decides that Hairo will meet the ninja in a private room, talk to him and make his own decision as to whether the man can be trusted. If the answer is yes, then Hiros is to be taken to Cali Bottom and placed under a mental contract, then invited to the Awoken and taken to Kharinza.

  In the Lakharian Desert, at the place of power, Scyth destroys Nergal’s temple. Kusalarix sends builders there to quickly erect a temple to the Sleepers.

  In the desert, still disguised as Mogwai, Scyth again meets Kitty Spitfire, the gnome explorer from the Monster Hunters guild. With the help of a special device, she discovers Scyth’s true identity and admits to being a fan. Scyth promises to pay the guild a visit.

  In real life, local criminal kingpin Diego Aranzabal ‘pays a visit’ to the clan base in Cali Bottom, demanding a bribe. The security officers of the Awoken, recognizing where acquiescence will lead, decide to employ Wild Ones, non-citizens who live in the Zones, to strike back.

  Scyth sets off in search of Jiri, the village where Supreme Grand Master Oyama rests after his long journey through the astral plane. After finding the master, Scyth asks to become his student, but is refused with the words “You are weak and slow!” Scyth must prove his strength. Oyama shows him a tree covered with Caressing Creeper, and says he will accept Scyth as a student only if he can pull the vines from the trunk.

  But no matter how hard Scyth tries, he can’t do it. Then he remembers the Grain of Transformation he won for getting the achievement First Ever: Level 400. With its help, Scyth redistributes his excess charisma into strength, agility and endurance.

  In the meantime, hordes of undead led by legates of the Destroying Plague advance on the castles of the Alliance of Preventers. Criterror, second in command of the Elites, goes to help Mogwai. Scyth teleports him to a goblin trap under Mount Mecharri on Bakabba, and the legate mentions that Eileen Waters has been made the ninth legate to replace Scyth.

  Trixie the hunchback, who has moved into the clan’s living complex along with his grandpa Harold, tries to steal a flyer so he can fly to the European District and see Jess, a brothel worker in Darant. It turns out that Trixie is in love, and Jess just can’t wait to see him again. It becomes clear that the clan base is under threat. Apparently someone, probably the Cartel, wants to use Trixie to find Alex. Trixie is put in isolation, and the security officers of the Awoken set off for a special operation against Diego Aranzabal. Intel has it that the kingpin plans to meet with the Cartel.

  In a strange Divine Revelation that takes place in real life, Alex sees the death of Hairo, Willy and the rest. When he awakes, he warns Hairo, who believes him. The special operation is successful — the Cartel’s people and Diego are eliminated.

  At Snowstorm, a special conference takes place in which Alex is discussed as a threat not only to the corporation’s global plans, but to the government’s. They can’t just kill the boy, because then his character would be taken over by an AI. So the directors come up with a few other ways to solve the problem of Alex Sheppard.

  The temple in the Lakharian Desert is completed. Scyth consecrates it to Tiamat and turns the leaders of the three allied clans — Modus, Travelers and Taipan — into priests of the Sleepers. Among them is the werewolf sniper Hellfish, who, like Scyth, plans to enter the Demonic Games.

  Once the castle on Kharinza is finished, Scyth activates Righteous Shield, which he received back in the Treasury of the First Mage. Infect reveals that he has almost fully assembled the design for a Sanctuary of the Departed — he has just one piece left to find. Scyth gives the archaeologist bard a hint as to where it might be.

  Returning to Jiri, Scyth pulls the Caressing Creeper from the tree. Oyama takes him on as a student and teaches him the Path of Spirit — a special fighting style based on inner strength. This path offers limitless progress, but takes away the ability to choose other Paths in future. Scyth gets the owl as his protector beast and air as his patron element. For allowing the elements to choose for themselves, air rewards him with a special ability — to enter a state of Clarity in which time slows down.

  Scyth jumps to Terrastera. The divine artifact Isis’ Blessing has cooled down and can be used again to protect the place of power from the acid rains. That will make it possible to start building a third temple of the Sleepers.

  There, Scyth is intercepted by the Celestial Arbitration. The Arbiters accuse him of aiding the Destroying Plague. They sentence him to Banishment, a punishment equivalent to fully losing one’s character. Scyth flees to Behemoth’s temple, but even the Sleeper is powerless against t
he Arbiters. Scyth argues and tries to prove that he is partly innocent. The Arbiters declare that the Herald’s fate must be decided by divine court — the Ordeal.

  Scyth is locked in the Vinculum, a special prison for those sentenced to the Ordeal. Logging out, he tells his friends what happened and wishes Malik good luck before he flies out to the Demonic Games. As for reaching them himself, Alex has little hope.

  Returning to the Vinculum, Scyth meets Navalik. The obstinate goblin sacrifices himself to give Scyth a level. The Ordeal uses special mechanics — only one can be acquitted, and all the convicts start with nothing.

  Thanks to the support of the fairy Lil’ Star and the two-headed ogre Mano’Hano, sent by the Green League, Scyth wins. But both the fairy and the ogre die.

  Alex flies out to the Demonic Games…

  Disgardium 7: The Demonic Games

  On the eve of the Demonic Games, Snowstorm holds a secret meeting attended by the directors, including Arto Menfil, shadowy manager of the Optimization project.

  He tells the room that the project was designed with the aim of ‘optimizing’ the planet’s population, or in other words, lowering it. This is why the Destroying Plague faction was added. The brain of a player who turns undead, in an attempt to reconcile the fact that its body is now rotting, causes necrosis in the living tissue of the real body. Non-citizen capsules are fitted with special brain activity catalysts that enhance this effect. Without emergency medical aid, the player is guaranteed to die.