Underworld - Scorching Sun: A LitRPG Series

by Apollos Thorne

  The rest of them scoffed, but the sound of footsteps scurrying away made them turn their heads to see one of their own hurrying to obey.

  Napalm just shook his head. “Look behind you,” he said. “You see the stump of metal sitting on the table over there? That’s what’s left of your friend. He makes a good table ornament to remind your friends what will happen if you cross me. I can’t guarantee there will be anything left of you for what comes next.”

  I didn’t hesitate to spin and found a headless and limbless torso that looked like liquid metal cooled standing at the center of a table like a decoration. I automatically checked for signs of life and found nothing but a large chunk of dead metal.

  The space around Napalm started to fill with crackling power as he was finally getting serious.

  Turning back, I saw the fiend that had killed my friend. “Give it everything you have,” I said genuinely, encouraging him. “I want you to feel what it’s like to have all hope taken from you before you die.” I stopped walking with less than twenty feet between us. Folding my hands behind my back, I waited.

  His own crew knew what was about to happen and turned to run—stumbling over themselves as they went.

  Like a plague dragon of oozing garbage, he exploded in power as his flames bloomed into great orbs of flesh-eating bile. When they reached their peak, the firestorm from each hand merged into one and ravaged the distance between us.

  My friends all called out for me to run, but I couldn’t stop what I’d already begun. It wasn’t his acid I was afraid of but what I’d allow myself to do.

  Even as the fire neared, I didn’t move, nor even close my eyes to defend against his foul dragon’s bite. In the moment it overtook me, my arms shot out and I let it engulf me completely. Since we’d entered the Underworld, it had been a miracle that none of us had died. But when someone finally had, it wasn’t a monster or beast that took their life, but another human being.

  After taking over 500,000 lives, I’d been struggling as to whether I should take Napalm’s life or just bring him low. Not because he didn’t deserve to die, but because I feared that I’d never be able to stop the killing. With such power, taking a life was so easy. But seeing what was left of my friend, all my mental restrictions toward him died.

  I let his acid wash over me like water. Despite my channeled Healing, I still felt his magic’s sting over every inch of my body. He wasn’t holding back.

  Was this what Travis had felt or was this just a small sample that couldn’t compare? Even though I could feel pain, not a cell of my body was harmed as my Light Magic laughed in the face of his puny Fire Acid storm.

  Lowering my arms, I walked forward against his flames.

  Fifteen seconds later he still hadn’t stopped casting and seemed to have no desire to until there was nothing of me left.

  I appeared no more than a few feet from his face as his acidic fire still howled against my arms and torso.

  A look of dread struck him as he cried out. He shifted his magic’s aim toward my face, but before he could I reached out with a single finger. Light Surgeon had transformed my hand to a milky white state.

  With a gentle tap on his forehead I whispered my demand. “Stop.”

  It wasn’t him I was commanding. My perception had plunged into his Light Mana-rich bloodstream through Light Surgeon’s power and arrived instantly at his heart. At my word, that blood-saturated organ had no strength to resist. When I said stop, it stopped—never to beat again.

  My perceptions returned to my body and I watched as all the fight remaining inside him departed over the next few seconds. He looked at me and finally realized what was happening. It wasn’t the face of anger or hate staring back at me, but the frightened look of a man who knew he was about to die.

  His magic died out like a smothered bonfire and he stood unable to completely control his motor functions.

  A thread of my mana was still stabbing into his forehead and because it had stifled the flow of blood in his body, it didn’t allow him to fall even as he was grasping at his chest.

  Most of his people had returned at a run when they realized something was happening, but seeing him standing there struggling while I held a finger to his head, they jerked to a stop. Not one of them said a word.

  For more than a minute the man went through a fit of full-body spasms before becoming deathly still.

  I’d Drained so many monsters, but not one of them deserved it more than the man before me. I knew it was wrong as soon as the thought entered my mind. There were so many other ways I could have caused him pain. The fact I didn’t pursue torture was in itself a relief. I cast Drain.

  We shared flesh and blood of the same race, so I didn’t gain any benefit from casting it. I watched as the flesh and blood dissolved into a mass of energy-giving liquid. As it filled me, I felt no change.

  Each of Napalm’s group responded to the horror of seeing their boss’s state in their own way. There was a shriek or two, trembling, and stillness as a pile of pale bones clattered to the ground in a jumbled mess.

  More than one of Napalm’s men lost the strength in their legs and fell to the floor. Before the others had the time to react, I commanded them to take a seat and they all obeyed without a word.

  They were more spread out than before, but they were still lined up as they had been. The exception was the Korean girl that came running with my friends from the stairs that descended from the second floor at the far end of the living quarters.

  My aura slowly calmed down as I stared off into the distance. I knew if I turned my head to look at any of Napalm’s men I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from ending them.

  I only realized the guys had surrounded me when Russ grabbed me in one of his infamous bearhugs. I was dead weight in his arms, and I didn’t struggle. They were thanking me and welcoming me back, but one fact seemed to have trapped my consciousness where I couldn’t respond. Travis was really dead.

  I felt the spatial crack before it had fully opened. “Get back,” I screamed far louder than was necessary.

  As the others did as I asked, I turned and faced the portal as it took full shape. A woman with magically fluttering red hair stepped out. More than one of my captives called out for Mistress Nava to save them.

  I didn’t know when I’d transformed, but before she could react, I’d torn her from where she’d exited and drove her into the ground wrapped in a massive Primordial Cat hand. Once again, my form had morphed to more of a humanoid shape, but I was still as large as I was in my 6x Primordial Cat Form.

  I held her in a vice grip with a hand that completely covered her from her knees to her shoulders. The ground beneath her had collapsed, leaving a shallow crater. The force had snapped her head back, but now she glared up at me only to find a few inches from her face a small cataclysmic orb as big as a marble. My other Primordial human-shaped hand held the threat of Calamity hovered over her like the shadow of death with Dark Magic flowing from my thumb and Light from my index finger.

  Seeing Calamity churning a couple inches from her face, she revealed something that she’d never shown me before. Heartfelt fear.

  “My friend Travis is dead, and it was your man’s doing,” I rumbled. “Last time we fought, I know that I didn’t pose any threat to you, but even if you win this time, I promise you I will cause you so much pain that it will haunt you for the rest of your wretched life.”

  The subtlest murmur sounded in my ear. “Child. That’s enough.” I immediately recognized the Head Mistress’s voice. As much as I wanted to kill Mistress Nava, I couldn’t bear being away from Aeris and my friends any longer.

  Calamity sputtered into nothing as I stood up and left the redheaded succubus lying on the floor. My Primordial Cat Form slowly shrank until I’d returned to my human form.

  This time when I faced Lilith, I didn’t feel an unnatural attraction or fear, but looked her in the eye as if peering into her soul.

  “My dearest boy,” she said, looking up
at me with a creepy affection.

  I then noticed that she hadn’t come alone. Some of the people I cared for the most in the world stood behind her. In the shimmering grandeur of silver Sprite Form, Aeris floated a head above the rest of the girls at the front of the pack. She wasn’t looking at me but at the pile of bones on the ground with a cold expression. Looking at the other girls, it seemed they had heard me when I said Travis was dead and this was the first time they’d heard of it.

  I couldn’t help but return my gaze to Aeris and checked her character sheet. Seeing that her level had reached 22,947, it was like my innards had been ripped from my chest. After Travis’s death I didn’t think how I felt could get any worse but comparing her level to the rest of the girls who had neared 10,000, I knew immediately what she must have put herself through. She hadn’t just been executing a few prisoners for extra experience, she’d killed thousands. No—tens of thousands. Perhaps I was the only one in the world that truly understood what she had gone through.

  This was the girl who I’d discovered Magic Bacon with and who’d helped me prank Skyler and his group. She’d faced off with a hundred flying imps when Travis and I were on our last leg and threw them from the sky to save us and plunged in to fight the Fire Incubus alone because she wanted to be able to protect the others as well. She’d singlehandedly saved me from my lonely existence I placed myself in after arriving, and more than that had given me an uncompromising friendship I could never be worthy of.

  Perhaps my feelings for Jale had been real, but I realized that my greatest yearning had come from having Aeris and losing her. I’d been desperate to have her back and Jale, who I could never speak poorly of, held similar virtues that I couldn’t ignore.

  I was about to rush over to embrace her, when Mistress Nava jumped to her feet screaming, “Sister, did you see that?”

  I couldn’t help but tense up at the possibility of Lilith punishing me again.

  All eyes were on the Head Mistress, who was dressed in a pale green strapless dress that tightly hugged her full chest and swept a few inches above the floor.

  Instead of rebuking me, she walked up to her sister succubus and gave her a firm smack across the face.

  Chapter 44 – Little Sister

  Lilith had never so much as spoken a negative word to another succubus in her care in front of us, but this time she’d actually smacked the only succubus I hated more than her.

  “Sister?” Mistress Nava said in hushed tones. I saw a wetness coating her too perfect eyes as she blinked uncontrollably.

  “You don’t yet understand, but soon you will,” Lilith replied. “He’s the one I’ve been searching for.”

  “Him?”

  Running her finger across Nava’s brow, the Head Mistress cleared the misplaced strands of hair from her face. “I’ve had the Matriarchs gather and want you to be there when I make the proclamation.”

  Like a little girl, Nava nodded her head and placed it on Lilith’s shoulder. “Okay.”

  “Thank you, sister. The humans you have raised will be given into Elorion’s care. But don’t worry, you will be given the chance to select more. Next time, do as I ask and don’t select those with such violent temperaments. Come and take a good look at this beautiful boy.”

  They both started walking toward me. Lilith was half a head taller than Nava and they both glowed with supernatural glamor. If only appearances were considered, there was nothing about them that seemed dangerous or evil, but I knew their natures far too well.

  I watched as Russ and the guys silently tiptoed toward the girls and joined them. Their greetings were hushed, but the joy plastered over everyone’s faces was clear. The one exception was Aeris. The deadness in her gaze made me fear that she really would never be the same.

  As if treating me like a mannequin, the succubi walked toward me and looked me up and down. My skeletal armor only covered my lower body, and I resisted the urge to cast it over my chest and back. To do so would show that their actions affected me.

  “You’ve tasted his Blue Magic firsthand,” Lilith said, running a finger over the curve of my shoulder. “But you haven’t experienced his true talent.”

  Walking behind me, Lilith kept speaking while Mistress Nava stopped in front of me and glared up with a pout. A finger traced the line of my back. “I know you’ve been concerned about these humans’ willingness to kill. Would you like to know what this boy has done during the mission I gave him?”

  Mistress Nava finally tore her eyes off me after Lilith had gone full circle and returned to her side. She showed sincerity when she said, “Yes, please.”

  A howl of wind cut them off. Aeris appeared behind the two succubi like a phantom and hovered before the bones of the dead Napalm. Even the Head Mistress turned to see what she was doing.

  The Wind Sprite turned her attention to Mistress Nava’s group and spared each of them a second’s glance. Then without a word, Aeris’s hand shot out with her fingers wide.

  “No!” Mistress Nava screamed but seemed to be helpless to act. These pets of hers were no longer under her control.

  With the simple action of closing her hand, the greatest suction force I’d ever experienced appeared above Napalm’s bones and sucked them up. Many of them broke and shattered. The next moment, the air of the entire Living Quarters shuddered and each of Mistress Nava’s humans were lifted off the ground and pulled toward the vacuum.

  Only the Korean girl who was hiding amongst my friends escaped the bone-crunching impact when the eight living bodies collided as if they were fighting each other for the same point in space. Under such pressure they didn’t have long to live.

  It wasn’t gravity she controlled but the air itself with such might and precision that these lowly humans had no ability to resist.

  Neither Mistress Nava nor Lilith stepped forward to save them. I was the one who rushed toward her and threw out a stream of Heal to sustain their lives as I appeared before Aeris.

  There was no change of expression in her face. She only glanced at me and said, “What are you doing?”

  I didn’t rebuke her but kept the stream of Heal going as I stepped up and slowly embraced her with my free arm. Placing myself between her and them, I didn’t even ask her to stop, but took in the lovely face that had filled my waking dreams. “Do you have any idea how much I’ve missed you?” I said through mind-speak to keep our conversation private.

  She dropped her eyes but didn’t drop her spell. Her voice chimed like a flute in my head. “I’m not worthy of being missed. If you knew what I’ve done—”

  “You really think I don’t know? Lilith told me before I left for the Vampire Gate.” I leaned forward and rested my forehead against hers.

  Still, her numb expression didn’t change. “Then you know why I can no longer be with you. I’m… disgusting.”

  Leaning back so that she could get a good look at me, I laughed. “You think you disgust me? Even if you kill the people behind me, so what? Have you thought for a second that I might’ve come back with more innocent blood on my hands than you?”

  With my index finger under her chin, I lifted her head. She lifted her gaze in response.

  “I know what you did, and why you did it,” I said. “Not only do you not disgust me, but I love you even more because of it. I know the price it cost you because I’ve had to pay the same price. I don’t care how disgusting you feel. From now on you’ll never leave my side.”

  Her expression didn’t change, but there was a tension in her aura that hadn’t been there before.

  Leaning forward, I whispered in her ear. “When killing becomes too easy it’s time to turn it off.”

  She slanted back so that she could see my face and show me a stern expression. “You killed their leader. I’ll take care of the rest. There’s no chance of them harming the others that way.”

  “I killed him because I couldn’t stop myself and you weren’t here. But you have me standing right in front of you. We can have a trial
and kill them later if we decide that they deserve it. For now, put them down because hugging you with one arm is rather awkward.”

  I hadn’t realized how deafening the sound behind me was until it started to subside. As her arm fell so did the force keeping her hovering in the air. Her almost nonexistent weight rested fully in my embrace.

  I gave the group behind me one last Heal, which should at least keep them alive until I completely healed them later. I fully entwined the Wind Sprite in my arms even as she continued staring blankly. If her arms hadn’t gone through the motion of wrapping themselves around me, I would’ve thought she didn’t see me at all.

  A violent vibration started to come from her deceptively delicate form. When she was at a twentieth of the level she was now, she had the metabolism of a hummingbird, but her current trembling was like 100,000 hummingbirds trapped inside her tiny body.

  Instead of letting go, I tightened my grip. I realized she hadn’t felt the endurance and health restoration effect of my Light Magic in months, so I healed her.

  Suddenly her eyes went wide as if she was awakening from a nightmare. Then she slowly closed them and rested her head against my chest.

  As if commenting on her favorite movie, Lilith’s voice cut through the room like a peerless blade. “Do you see, sister? They are capable of both diplomacy and carnage. And we’re in need of both. Let me show you this one’s true ability.”

  Holding Aeris, I watched the two succubi standing twenty feet directly behind her. Lilith took something from her inventory that fit in the palm of her hand. With a surge of mana, light leaped from the device and filled the air with an all too familiar scene. Like a projector that didn’t need a surface to function, the image of Jasmine peeking over the boulder of our basecamp played like a video from my personal perspective of that day… Even Lord Soroush’s frosty aura could be felt.

  I’d succeeded in being strong for Aeris, but as the scene of the worst moment of my life replayed before my eyes I started to crumble. It was too much of a surprise and still too fresh in my mind for me to have any defense against it. If it weren’t for Aeris holding me up I would have fallen to the floor.