Purgatory: The Devil's Game

by M. A. Carlson

  The next day I cleared lust but was no closer to figuring out what it wanted from me. Ramy didn’t even appear after I woke up in the morgue. I had a feeling I wouldn’t be seeing him unless I truly cleared a floor.

  The day after that, I was back and facing gluttony once again. I entered but rather than stomping forward like I was racing against the clock as I had just done on the lust floor, which seemed to be the wrong answer, I stopped to think it through. The problem was, I had no idea what to do with gluttony. How could I overcome it? It was a lot like greed, and it gave rewards that were a lot like what I could expect from greed, but it was different. It consumed itself as I went forward. How was I supposed to stop it from consuming itself? The demons were all about consuming everything in their path, I couldn’t not fight them. I could ignore any loot drops again, but that wasn’t guaranteed to do anything. The question was . . . how did I stop it from consuming itself?

  I was in a sewer, surrounded by muck, feces, and fetid water. Water that flowed. If the water flooded up behind me, didn’t that mean something on this lowest level of the sewer system was getting backed up? Was that the real solution? Did I need to stop the floor from consuming itself instead of following the obvious path?

  “Let’s see if it can be done,” I mumbled to myself. I cleared all the demons from the sewer first. I killed the rats and slimes and made my way to the ladder up and to the grate that lay just beyond it. The grate was less a grate and more just simple bars over a sewer pipe that let in a steady flow of dirty water. Even if I broke the bars off, there was no way I was getting through the pipe. At least, not with the water pumping out and the small size of the pipe. No, I didn’t think the solution lay in that direction.

  I went back to where I came into the floor. The ladder leading up to my safe room was still there and the hatch still stood open above. Past the ladder to safety was another grate of bars covering a sewer pipe, this one much larger than the one that allowed water to flow in. I inspected the bars, something I had never bothered to do before. They were covered in all manner of nastiness. I was forced to grit my teeth as I used my fingers to scrape away at said nastiness. Underneath the vile stuff were heavily degraded bars. So degraded that a single kick sent the metal splashing into the water below me. It seemed the bars were held together by the nastiness and once it was scraped away, there was nothing holding them in place. Within ten minutes, the bars no longer blocked my way.

  “This is different,” Asher commented.

  I agreed, it was different. I looked at the larger pipe and grimaced. Larger was relative. It was larger than my armored shoulders were wide but that wasn’t saying much. I grumbled “I really hope there isn’t another set of bars on the other side.”

  I crawled through the pipe and emerged about ten feet later in a room filled with water wheels, most of which appeared to have been broken or stalled. It took a second to recognize it as a turbine room. The flow of water was turning a few large wheels that seemed to be generating power if the flickering lights were anything to go by. I should mention, there were almost a dozen wheels but only a few were turning despite the water being pumped into the room from several drains.

  “Do I need to fix it?” I asked, hoping one of my guides would be able to help.

  “I don’t know about fixing it, but you should definitely stop those goblins from breaking it,” Era said.

  I followed her gaze and saw several small, sweaty, green-skinned, humanoid-looking things wearing cookware as armor, banging pots like clubs into one of the working wheels.

  “Goblins?” I asked, not quite believing what I was seeing.

  “Indeed,” Silas said from my shoulder. The small tree refused to walk in the dirty water, he said it was bad for his roots, thus he rode on my shoulder.

  “And I’m guessing, if the wheels stop turning, the water will consume everything?” I asked.

  Silas hummed, “Hmm, I don’t know about that, but if those wheels block the drain below . . . well, you get the idea.”

  I nodded, that made more sense. I looked to my offensive companion and gave the order to attack, “Okay, Era, start us off.”

  Era scoffed, “Must I always go first? Why not have Silas bind them with his roots first?”

  “Because we want to get them away from the wheel, not stick them to the wheel,” I answered. Actually, sticking them to the wheel might be funny. I pictured a goblin plunging in and out of the water as the wheel turned. Unfortunately, the reality was, doing so was just as likely to damage the wheel.

  “Fine,” Era said despondently, “If you insist.” Several air blades cut through the air, slicing into one of the goblins, chopping off an arm, both legs and cutting the body in half. The goblin didn’t know what happened to it. It died too fast. So fast, the other three didn’t even see it die.

  Seeing the three remaining continued focusing on their work, I said, “Do it again.”

  Era huffed but fired again. Another of the goblins fell to pieces in that one attack. This time, the other two goblins noticed the attack, stopping what they were doing and focusing on the source of the attack. One of the two turned so suddenly and was so surprised it screeched as it lost balance and fell backward into the pit the water flowed into. And just like that, there was only one left.

  The last one wore more pots and pan armor than the other three. That didn’t stop the little idiot from tripping and knocking himself silly with his dented pot club. I would have laughed if it wasn’t so sad. Era finished him off before he could even get back to his feet.

  “That was . . . odd,” I said, not entirely sure what just happened.

  Silas snapped me out of my confusion, “Sir, perhaps it would be best if we investigate further to determine what those goblins were up to.”

  I moved to check on the wheel they were damaging. It was turning, but just barely. I looked into the pit below the turbines and saw debris . . . a lot of debris. Broken pieces of water wheel were already clogging the drains below. It wasn’t quite enough to stop the water flowing out entirely but it was enough that the pit was slowly filling. The question became, did I try to fix the wheel or fix the drain?

  There was a walkway over head with an open door at one end and a stairway at the other. I guessed that was where the goblins had come from. There was also a stairway leading down into the pit the water fed into.

  “Era, do you think your wind blades could cut up the debris in the bottom of the pit?” I asked, thinking that might be the best way forward.

  Era harrumphed, “I am not some lowborn lumberjack. I am the breath of God. I am a being of immense power, touched by the divine. And you want to use me to cut some wood?”

  “Era,” I snapped, “Enough, can you do it or not?”

  Era scoffed, “Of course I can do it, but it seems like such a waste of my talents.”

  I rolled my eyes, “Just . . . do it.”

  I went down the stairs into the pit first. The water at the bottom was only to my knees. The bottom of the drain was covered with a thick iron grate, probably meant to keep the demons out. Only now, it was mostly covered by debris, hence the standing water. Needling Era a little, I said, “Start chopping.”

  Era huffed but did as I asked, sending blades of wind into the wood chunks, slowly breaking it down in the pieces small enough to fall through the grate. At the end, the water drained, and the grate was mostly clear. Hopefully, that eliminated the flooding risk.

  Up the stairs then up the next flight of stairs onto the walkway and through the door. On the other side of the door was a spiral staircase that went up, maybe eight or nine floors. The goblins must have come from up there. I grumbled a bit but started making my way up the stairs.

  At the top of the stairs was a single solid oak door. It creaked loudly as I tried to open it just enough to peak through. Loud banging and growls followed the creaking, and I was certain I was about to have company.

  “Goblins individually are weak, but when they attack in a horde, they
are extremely dangerous,” Asher warned as the first green limb reached through the small gap in the door. I hammered the limb with my mace, snapping the bone and deforming the arm. Still, the little green demon kept pushing at the door as more limbs reached out for me.

  “Era, chill them!” I shouted as I rammed my shoulder into the door in an attempt to keep them from pushing the door wide.

  Era flew up and shot cold air into the gap, hitting dozens of goblins and killing every goblin that touched the cone of hyper-chilled air. The attack bought me enough time to close the door most of the way.

  “Brace for the next wave,” Silas warned, his deep voice booming.

  I didn’t hesitate. My shoulder braced against the door and waited for the next body impacts. Looking at Era, I shouted, “Wait until my signal!”

  Era huffed, “I know what I’m doing.”

  I grunted as a particularly strong blow impacted with the door, forcing me back a couple inches, allowing more arms to reach through. “Now!”

  Wind blasted into the gap once more, killing the goblins by the dozen. I tried pushing the door closed again but the bodies had piled up such that it wasn’t budging. With no other choice, I prepared for the next wave.

  “Wait for it,” I said, bracing against the door, knowing there was a risk that some of the goblins were likely to get past the door. I needed to stem the tide as best I could.

  “I know,” Era snapped again.

  Bodies thudded against the heavy door and clawed hands grasped for me, some even found purchase and scratched me, dealing a point or two of damage and getting lit on fire for their trouble, ultimately killing them. I batted them away as best I could while still maintaining my brace on the door.

  “One has broken through, I’ve got it contained for now,” Silas warned.

  “Okay, Era, now!” I shouted.

  More goblins died. I stepped away for just a second to crush the skull of the one that made it through. As soon as it was dead, I got right back into position, bracing against the door.

  Wave after wave came and eventually, I was forced from the door and down the stairs. Thankfully, the goblins were also clumsy or maybe they were just stupid. Many of them went right off the edge of the stairs, plummeting to their deaths. Still, far more of them got to me. Era blasted at them until she ran out of SE. I used my stand firm and blockade proficiencies to great effect, keeping the demons from getting behind me and blocking their attacks with my shield. Asher’s burning armor probably killed more of the demon’s than my mace did, but I wasn’t going to complain.

  It was a retreating fight. It was frantic and fast paced. Every time the bodies piled up, I moved back a few steps, put up my best defense and killed demons until I needed to move again. I fought all the way back to the room with the water wheels. It was some of the most intense, hairiest fighting I’d ever participated in. It felt like it would never end.

  “I think that’s all of them,” Asher said, sounding as exhausted as I felt.

  Era complained, “Why do you sound tired? You didn’t do anything?”

  Asher protested, “I used my shield proficiency until I ran out of SE, thank you very much.”

  “We are all tired,” Silas said. I discovered the little tree was actually quite tactical. He managed to turn his binding roots into perfectly placed trip hazards. It certainly saved my life more than once.

  “Enough,” I said, feeling achy and tired all over. Even with my heavy armor and Raphael’s blessing, the sheer volume of attacks I was required to suffer nearly killed me more than once. And yet . . . I survived. “Let’s go see if there are more coming?”

  I knew there wouldn’t be. When the last of the goblins had died, the bodies quickly melted away, leaving behind loot I promptly ignored. I wasn’t going to contribute to the greed and gluttony of this floor or any floor ever again.

  “If the horde is defeated, there should only be a goblin king or shaman or something like that remaining,” Asher advised as I moved back toward the spiral staircase.

  As I climbed the stairs, Silas gave me a lesson on goblins. “Goblins are some of the worst gluttony demons known. As Asher said, individually, they are weak. It is only when they are in a horde that you need worry. They will consume everything in their path. It is all that drives them. If they had broken the water wheels and flooded this floor, their actions would have led to the consumption of the floor, and even if it was an act that killed all of them, they would have reveled in their actions.”

  That was disconcerting to say the least.

  Silas continued, turning a little preachy, “Gluttony isn’t just about food as many of your legends would have you believe. It’s about everything from life to land to resources. Consumption is inevitable, but one does not need to be a glutton and consume to the point in which there is nothing left but ruin.”

  I understood the concept of conservation. Of not over consuming. Humans might be slow to learn at times, but we do learn. As a people, we have suffered many harsh lessons due to our haste to consume. I would like to think we’ve learned from those lessons and become a better society. Sure, there will always be outliers that refuse to learn from the past. We have a saying for those people, ‘those who refuse to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.’

  I tuned out of Silas’ lecture as I got closer to the now open doorway. Beyond the door was another small room. There was a collapsed doorway on my left and on my right was a dark tunnel. It looked like the goblins had tunneled into the room and broken through the wall.

  The tunnel wasn’t very big, probably just tall enough for a goblin . . . maybe not even that tall. I was forced to crawl, although, I will admit to being mighty pleased I wasn’t crawling through filth ridden water.

  Eventually the tunnel widened and a source of light farther along the tunnel allowed me to see. More importantly, the widening of the tunnel allowed me to stand again, though I was at more of a crouch that would no doubt leave my lower back sore. As I moved forward, I found holes dug into the sides of the tunnel, just large enough for a goblin to fit inside. The further I went, the brighter it got and the more holes I found until I reached a point where there were hundreds of holes encircling the entirety of the tunnel. “Are these their homes?”

  Silas hummed, “That is correct. A hole to sleep in is all they require, everything else is consumed. They are-”

  Silas was cut off by the growl of something big, though I admit that might have had more to do with the shape of the tunnel magnifying whatever it was. I slowed my approach, stepping carefully on the little bit of rock that remained between the holes in the rock that also served as their beds. Every few seconds there was another growl.

  The further I went, the more the light filtered in. Finally, I emerged into a large cavern with a bonfire burning in the middle creating the light. The cavern was dome shaped and was filled with large oval stones that looked . . . slimy. I saw the silhouette of something large on the other side of the fire, it suddenly screamed like it was in pain, a wet plopping sound followed, and the silhouette moved a few feet then repeated the process.

  As the horror of what that thing was doing filled me, I whispered, “Is that thing . . . laying eggs?”

  “A goblin queen,” Era squeaked.

  “Kill it!” Silas pleaded loudly, ignoring my attempt to be stealthy. “Hurry, before she finishes laying her clutch!”

  The queen froze, her head turning in our direction.

  “Not much of a choice now,” I complained. “Era, attack!” I mentally activated my locomotion skill, stomping through eggs and splattering myself in goblin goo as I went. I slammed into the body of the queen. At the same time, I finally got my first look at her. She stood on four legs, two supporting her body and two supporting a bulbous belly . . . egg sack that hung from her belly. I couldn’t have told you she was female from looking at her, she didn’t look much different from the other goblins except that she was larger than her peers and covered in bulging muscles. There was
no hair to be seen under the pot she was using as a helmet.

  I expected my locomotion to carry me into her, knock her to the ground, then trample her under my feet. For the first time ever, I was stopped in my tracks as I impacted her belly with a gong. It was only now that I’d gotten closer, I saw her belly was covered with a cracked cauldron that acted as armor, which paired well with the ladle she held in one hand and the pot lid she held in the other.

  Worse, I was stunned. There was nothing I could do to block the large ladle she was wielding like a club. The wooden instrument hit my shoulder and I felt my armor deform around the wooden implement, which was followed by a painful snapping sound as my shoulder broke, dropping the arm holding my shield limply to my side. Seeing my HP drop to ‘1,557/2,000’ worried me more. She hit hard.

  Thankfully, the hit seemed to have broken me free of the stunning effect, that or my recovery proficiency was just that good. Without the stun holding me in place, I was able to dive out of the way of the next attack. Naturally, I landed on my injured shoulder, causing pain to shoot through my entire side. I wished I could just lay there and wallow in the pain. Instead, I pushed myself up as quickly as I could and moved to attack, this time leading with my mace. I needed to keep the monster focused on me while Era did her job and hopefully cut the goblin to pieces with her wind blades.

  I swung my mace aiming for one of the legs supporting the egg belly. I was surprised when my mace clanged off the goblin queen’s pot lid shield. The horde of goblins had lowered my expectations significantly, it left me unprepared for a competent opponent.

  “Silas, try to bind her arm if she’s going to lower her shield that much to block me,” I ordered, sidestepping a fast swing of the goblin’s ladle club. I winced in pain as my shoulder snapped back into place and my shield was useable once more, and just in time. My wince made me nearly miss the ladle swinging for my head. I raised my shield just in time to deflect the blow over my head. I countered with a crushing blow, hitting the cauldron armored belly, widening the cracks it already possessed but failing to break it.