The Demonic Games (Disgardium Book #7): LitRPG Series

by Dan Sugralinov

  Despot wasn’t by the staircase — either he heard me and was hiding, or…

  “Hey, Horns, where are you?” I shouted into the Pitfall. My voice echoed back to me over and over.

  “Useless pet,” Hellfish commented.

  “Despot!” I shouted. “Horns! Here!”

  Damn, I should have learned the Summoning Pentagram… No sooner did I think that than a rumble came from below:

  “I sense an enemy spirit!” Despot growled. “It is close, but I cannot reach it!”

  “Go down!” I shouted to my allies, then shot downwards myself.

  “No, we’ll wait here,” Hellfish shouted down as I went. “That damn Godzilla of yours is down there, and we’re on our last lives…”

  I found Despot before the open gates of floor 22.

  “There you are! What about the enemy?”

  The demon pointed into the darkness. Green flashes exploded within and I heard a girl laughing.

  “I cannot pass the threshold,” the demon said. “Something blocks my way…”

  “Nether!” I swore and flew into the instance.

  Only then did I see the updated list of the raid group: a third of my allied portraits were covered with skulls. I hadn’t been keeping track!

  Flying on in despair, the first one I saw was a motionless centaur girl — she was frozen in mid-gallop, her eyes wide, her arms spread and her front legs raised before her. Next was Meister, motionless in a crouch by the wall, sparks circling above his head.

  The rest were stopped in various poses around the wide cave. Bloomer had managed to take out his swords, Michelle had begun a cast. It all looked as if I was in Clarity, only I wasn’t, which meant it was a mass stun…

  …initiated by Youlang. She stood in the middle of the cave with her arm raised as if signaling to someone, holding something else in her other hand.

  The spellcaster spread her fingers and an expanding figure appeared between them — I went into Clarity and shot toward Youlang, but still wasn’t fast enough. For the first time, I felt like I couldn’t move fast enough — the paladin Equilibrium, frozen opposite her, began to inflate like a balloon. He covered over with cracks and his body exploded, sending guts flying. The spell’s effect was lightning-fast even in my quickened state. Only when they shot into the air did the sprays of blood and scraps of flesh slow and seem to hang there.

  Looking around, I groaned. A bloody mist filled the entire cave. Equilibrium wasn’t Youlang’s only victim; everyone in the hall died. For some, it was their last death in the Games…

  Shooting toward motionless Youlang, I grabbed her by the arm, flew out of the dungeon and thought about what to do with her. Just killing her was pointless, as was dropping her down the Pitfall — she had Levitation, after all. That left only one choice — to deliver her personally to Abaddon and make sure the demon ate her.

  And then I remembered Inchito. His allies in Marcus’s raid were still stuck in Spirit Shackles, but the light priest was at the graveyard! I’d have to fly down, then back to the surface, then to the cemetery… I wouldn’t make it. While I did that, Inchito would have time to kill my surviving allies several times over. Gritting my teeth, I raised Youlang before me with my left hand, looked at her face frozen in an evil, triumphant grin, pulled back my arm for a Hammerfist and… Lowered it again. If I killed the spellcaster, she would only revive at the graveyard and speed up my allies’ disincarnation before I got there. I had to take her out when I was in position.

  I saw the barely moving figures of Destiny, Hellfish and Quetzal rushing down the stairs, but I didn’t stick around.

  At that moment, a demonic whisper cut through Clarity and sounded in my head: Wait, ally. I sense that you will need my help above.

  I stopped before Despot frozen on the second floor, asked him mentally: How can you help me?

  Try to draw a Summoning Pentagram above. I will teach you quickly, it is not difficult, it is the easiest spell of the warlock. If we can circumvent the barrier, then I will leave the Pitfall and help you.

  I know how you’ll ‘help’ me, I thought mistrustfully. You’ll eat everyone!

  Summon me! I promise you I will do no harm to civilians or your friends, only to your enemies! I swear on the Inferno!

  Despot had already proven to be an unreliable and wayward ally, but with his help, I could solve the problem of my enemies once and for all. I couldn’t afford to make a fatal error… Although it wasn’t like the situation could get worse.

  Fine, teach me how.

  In mental images, Despot showed me what to do and which words to say. A Summoning Pentagram appeared before my eyes, and then his quietened voice said in my head: Water it with enemy blood and summon me.

  Well, there was a use for Youlang…

  My spirit bar was almost empty when I arrived at the Cursed Chasm churchyard. Before our flight ended, Youlang managed to finish casting Sheep, but the cast did nothing. In response, my Talon burst through the spellcaster’s chest. Youlang’s dead body began to fall slowly, then I rushed to Inchito, who was busy shooting at my allies, and sent him back to respawn with a single hit.

  In the few seconds left before my quickening ended, I managed to draw the Summoning Pentagram, threw the spellcaster’s corpse onto it to make sure there was plenty of blood, then emerged from Clarity and shouted the curse!

  Youlang’s body melted like wax, feeding the pentagram. Black beams shot from her corpse into the sky. The body evaporated and a spatial rift appeared in its place. With a thunder and rattle, Despot climbed out of it!

  “Freedom!” he roared. “Finally!”

  “There’ll be time to celebrate later, Horns. Get ready, you’re going to need all your speed to catch them all!”

  I ordered my few surviving allies to make for the Pitfall. Judging by the raid list, we had around twenty people left. A pillar of light flashed up nearby — the gnome tailor Hox reviving. Squinting blindly, he looked at me and suddenly ran over, barreling into me and jabbing at me with a rusty knife. He dealt no damage, but didn’t seem to realize it, just kept stabbing away with the weapon like a needle on a sewing machine. He was looking down at the ground and shouting furiously:

  “Die! Die! Die!”

  Despot watched thoughtfully, his head bowed, but made no move to kill without my command. Hox really was bloodthirsty — first he’d been cutting at Destiny’s leg with that knife, and now at me. What a psycho!

  I grabbed the front of his tunic and lifted him up before my face:

  “Hox! It’s me, Scyth! Put your knife away before you hurt yourself!”

  “Scyth?” He threw back his head, blinked, rubbed his eyes and put the knife away. “Didn’t recognize you… Where’re all the others?”

  I showed him where our allies had gathered. The gnome ran off toward them, his bare feet pattering.

  I went into Stealth, ordered the demon to hide in the shadows. We were ready to give a warm welcome to everyone stuck in Spirit Shackles. I chose the graveyard as their resurrection point.

  Around a hundred enemies appeared at once, crowding the cemetery. Urkish’s head span, his elephant ears flapping. Vampire Riker materialized next to him, and a little off to the side — Smoothie. Messiah appeared and immediately got lost among the strong players.

  In the meantime, dark knight Caville looked around and shouted:

  “Heads up! Marcus is gone! I’m the leader now! Looks like the Threat threw him down the Pitfall, and now we’re the next target! Get ready for battle!”

  “Fat chance!” Geyserix argued. The barbarian berserker’s gaze went glassy like he was reading information in the raid interface. “Let’s let all the officers elect a leader!”

  “Once the Threat is dead, then we can vote!” Caville barked. “In the meantime… Everyone form up! Hunters, launch flares! Casters…”

  “Sic em, Despot!” I shouted.

  Groghgrghr-ing in excitement, the hellish tractor rattled off to reap its bloody harvest — materi
alizing behind the back of the astonished barbarian Geyserix, he waved his halberd arms crosswise, slicing the lowlife into three pieces. The twenty-foot demon’s appearance demoralized the enemy. They broke in all directions, shouting in terror, but there was no escape from Horns — that was his talent. Despot cut down my enemies and I helped him, and by the time the Markers realized what was happening, we’d taken down over half of them. The demon’s blink-like movements were invisible to the naked eye and left little chance of escape, and I was hovering above the graveyard watching closely for anyone who might slip through.

  I nearly took off Caville’s head with a blow, but the dark knight survived and bubbled up. Leaving him for a while, I looked around and found Smoothie — I had a personal dislike for her Ephemeral Web of Pacification. On my way to the mage girl, I sent a dwarf gunner back to the graveyard as he ran off to one side, then smashed through the chest of a troll warlock and took off an orc shaman’s head. Next I took out Smoothie, then Riker as he hid in stealth nearby, and Phobos, who tried to escape. Then I beat Messiah the magician into the ground. He represented no threat, but shrewd types like him had a way of surviving, and I didn’t want the artful dodger to outlast more worthy enemy fighters. After meting out vengeance against another enemy, I returned to Caville, who had lost his invulnerability, finished him off and then… I started to lose count.

  “You could have left something for me!” the demon roared, breathing steam out through his nostrils and looking around the empty battlefield in disgust.

  “They’ll all be back in a minute, ally. They’re undying, remember!”

  I looked across all the loot filling the graveyard and hesitated, thinking about picking it up by hand, but thought better of it. I changed my Magnetism filter to only pick up items at uncommon rarity or above — my allies could use even those. Bam! Suddenly, I was pinned to the ground with Overburdened!

  I had to throw something out before I could carry it all to my allies. They had gathered in the distance instead of running away, and were actively cheering on Despot, commentating on the battle and helping to spot enemies that tried to escape. Some even got involved — Joker the engineer placed slowing turrets and mines around the edge of the graveyard, and hunter Koba threw out Frost Traps.

  “Enough souls to make that demon fat!” Meister shouted gleefully, looking into the graveyard where our enemies were beginning to resurrect.

  “Mor-r-rtal flesh!” came the demon’s roar.

  Our opponents had no chance. As a dungeon boss, the immortal demon had a wide range of abilities! His fiery aura was as deadly as ever, and his forge mouth easily swallowed enemies whole.

  “Tasty souls!” the demon said, booming out a satisfied laugh. “But still weak, pathetic…”

  Soon the trio from the Pitfall joined us — Quetzal, Destiny and Hellfish. They hated just staying there in suspense, so they decided to risk coming to the graveyard.

  “We didn’t want to miss all the fun,” Hellfish said, smiling widely.

  “Vengeance is a dish best served cold, of course,” Quetzal added as he watched the slaughter of our enemies, his eyes flashing. “But it tastes just fine hot!”

  The Markers were starting to resurrect in the cemetery. Thirty columns of light flashed up at once, as if they had all agreed to resurrect at the same time! As soon as they appeared, the Markers dashed off in different directions. I rushed to help Despot — the demon couldn’t get them all.

  The lower our enemies’ levels went, the easier it was for us. They died in droves to Despot’s flame aura alone. My allies ran to the village to get some Demonic Brandy and joined the hunt. Some of the fighters even gained a few levels from the experience for killing the Markers.

  After a few rounds of clearing the Markers, I relaxed. I flew calmly around the graveyard, taking out anyone who managed to almost make it to the cemetery’s edge and admiring Despot’s butchery. Then, suddenly, a cry from the silver ranger caught my attention:

  “Scyth!” Destiny was pointing straight ahead with one hand and upwards with the other. “Youlang and Caville!”

  Encased in a bubble, dark knight Caville had taken to his heels; Youlang set off into the sky and shot up to the clouds; another mage, Skew, cast three illusions of himself, confusing Despot… Seeing that Caville was rushing toward my allies, I activated Clarity and moved to intercept him. And made a mistake — while I was dealing with the dark knight, the spellcaster activated Invisibility and escaped. Thinking for a moment, I decided not to go looking for her — first I needed to finish crushing the rest of the Markers. They were running in all directions like cockroaches.

  More might have escaped if it weren’t for ranger Destiny, sniper Hellfish and hunter Koba. They put Hunter’s Marks on the Markers, letting me see even the ones that made it through to the woods. I caught them up and sent them back to the graveyard with a single hit…

  An hour before we left the Cursed Chasm, the second to last Marker resurrected at the cemetery — dark knight Caville, who was on his last life. Despot swallowed him down along with his bubble. The knight survived for some time in the forge, unable to break out from within the demon, and when he finally died his last death, our raid was the only one left in the Cursed Chasm. Of our enemies, only Youlang was still in the running — the spellcaster was hiding, and Despot couldn’t sense where.

  The time came to take stock of our own losses: warrior Kart, curser Roman, rider Dave, bogatyr Arioch, rogues Berstan and Filex, tamer Shemshur, druids Naiterio and Kanu, hunter Perant, blacksmith Artemius, dancer Olga and paladins Yermak and Blondiecat. All of them had fallen. Another paladin, Equilibrium, died before my eyes.

  Five survived in Hellfish’s group: ice mage Kara, archer Yen, templar Alison, hunter Koba and sculptor Anna.

  Quetzal had nobody left except Infect, but we’d heard no news from the bard.

  There were another seven crafters left, including Michelle, Bloomer, Meister and Joker. The remaining three were only vaguely familiar to me: gnome tailor Hox, hobbit chef Nobu and ogre alchemist Niceguy.

  That was our whole team. With Destiny, but not counting Infect, who was still missing, there were sixteen contestants left out of around a hundred and fifty.

  After the headcount, silence fell. Quetzal’s voice finally broke it:

  “We honor the memory of the departed. Bogatyr Arioch… Hoped to trade the essence from winning the Games for the Svyatogor set.”

  “Rogue Filex, our captain at the Arena, he dreamed of winning!” templar Alison blurted out. Archer Yen added: “And druid Kanu got knocked out too… The only ones left from the T-Modus team are Eli and I…”

  “Tamer Shemshur, aka Theodor Novak,” I said. “He was the only one at my table who showed me any sympathy when the Games first started.”

  Anna blushed and lowered her eyes. Meister coughed.

  “We didn’t know you then, young man.”

  “Water under the bridge…” Hellfish said. “We remember the fallen. Equilibrium must be the best healer I know! We’ve raided together, nobody else comes close!”

  They named the dead, talked about them. It was like I was being introduced to my knocked-out allies after it was already too late. I felt bad for not protecting them. When they came to the troll curser, Meister nearly wailed:

  “You know what the worst part is? Roman always had a low opinion of a certain madame here, always considered her an exceedingly egotistical… woman. And now my friend has been knocked out, but that… lady of light virtue is still in the game!”

  Destiny didn’t so much as twitch an eyebrow. Anyone there might have thought she didn’t give a damn, but having seen her the previous night, honest and vulnerable, I knew it was just a protective mask.

  “Don’t provoke them, or they’ll throw you down the hole,” I warned the girl. Then, not wanting to interrupt Meister’s eulogy as he listed off each player by name, I whispered to Quetzal: “There’s still time before the day ends. I think I need to go looking for Youlang.�
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  I couldn’t stop wondering how she got past the demon, and how the spellcaster had ended up on floor 22, exactly where my allies had been waiting. If there was an explanation for the first, then the second was unlikely to be a coincidence.

  “Youlang…” Quetzal said thoughtfully, echoing my thoughts. “It’s weird that out of all the floors she could have gone to, she went to the exact one where our raid was holed up…”

  “How did she even get past the demon?”

  “How do you think?” Hellfish chuckled. “With Blink. She jumped from floor to floor until she reached… Oh, shit!”