The Demonic Games (Disgardium Book #7): LitRPG Series, Dan Sugralinov [the read aloud family TXT] 📗

objective time passed in Clarity. Riker’s body, with a huge hole from my Hammerfist gaping in his chest, flew backwards beyond the edge of the churchyard and collapsed, motionless. By then, I had already picked up the wingless fairy and flown her three hundred yards away from the cemetery. I reappeared for a moment to set down the stunned elderly woman, still reeling from her sudden journey.

“Run to your allies, Mrs. Giovanni!” I had to shout for her to come round, then she blinked a few times and ran off for the village.

Clarity again for a second to enter Stealth, return to the churchyard and watch what was happening from above. An apocalyptic dusky landscape unfolded beneath me, the strongest players roamed free and scoffed as they ground the weakest beneath their boots.

Most of their forces were spread along the collapsing hedgerow. The fighters mostly fired at the crafters from a distance as they resurrected, but the worst sadists among them rampaged through the battlefield. They bolstered their self-esteem by bullying the weak, or maybe they thought they were winning the audience’s favor by taking a head off in one swoop or raising a cute elf girl up on a spear upside down to bare her legs.

Around a hundred enemies. Alone, this was enough work to last me until nightfall, considering they could resurrect right here and practically instantaneously. The resurrection process had to be controlled, which meant I’d need Spirit Shackles. Just a shame the thirty-yard radius wouldn’t cover the entire area around the graveyard…

Finding Marcus, I targeted a spot close to him and activated the skill.

Spirit Shackles failed to activate!

 

Unable to create soulcatcher for dead players near a resurrection point!

 

Fine, I’ll do without, I decided. Then I flew straight at Marcus, pulling back my fist as I went, but stopped the attack when I heard the name of missing Destiny.

Apart from his previous allies — Youlang, Inchito, Caville, Geyserix, Frankie and Enigma, — the lopher Urkish, who had sat at Destiny’s table the previous night, stood alongside the huge orc bruiser. They surrounded the magician Messiah, who fell to his knees and begged for mercy:

“I’ll do anything, Mr. Jansson! Please invite me to your group! I have… I mean I will have useful buffs, once they level up again! I’m a good support! I know cool tricks! I…”

“I! I! I!” Marcus barked angrily. “Go prove your loyalty! Find Destiny and bring her to me! We almost zeroed her, but the damn princess slipped away. She took advantage of my order not to finish her off, and these morons let her go!” The big man nodded toward dark knight Caville and barbarian Geyserix. “Go, find her and bring her to me! I want to give her one last chance…”

Messiah nodded, gabbled his thanks, swore his loyalty and rushed away. Had he really betrayed Destiny? That would block his path into the Children of Kratos forever, he must know that!

“Pitiful sight,” Urkish commented as Messiah ran. “You sure about him, Marcus?”

“We’ll take him out whatever happens,” the orc grinned. “But not right away, if he brings us Des. He can hang around a day or so longer then.”

“I get it,” the lopher laughed.

“Are you sure Scyth won’t just kill himself to get here faster, Marcus?” spellcaster Youlang asked.

“I don’t think the kid will do anything that drastic,” the orc answered. “He won’t wanna lose the exp. Why waste it if he can just fly here?”

“As long as he doesn’t bring his pet…” Urkish murmured.

Jockey Frankie, surprisingly lean for a dwarf, raised his head and looked back and forth, searching for me in the sky. Inchito stood nearby, listening to the screams.

“That’s Riker screaming,” he said thoughtfully. “Somebody must have one-shot him.”

“Idiot. His own fault,” Frankie said. “Dumb pervert!”

I had heard enough. Going into Clarity, I identified my targets and released all my pent-up anger on them. The first Hammerfist sent Youlang off to resurrect, and the second Spirit-Crushing version smashed through Inchito the priest’s ribcage as he stood scanning the sky. Saboteur Enigma stood frozen, his leg raised, and I couldn’t help but send him flying with a Stunning Kick right in the ass, then crushed Geyserix's skull and broke a few of Caville’s bones.

The half-smile ever so slowly fell from the orc bruiser’s face, and I fired off a Combo to wipe it off entirely, windmilling my arms, smashing the armor into his chest, crushing his ribs and sending bloody mist out in all directions. One strike landed higher and the helmet cracked along with the orc’s skull, his neck folding up. Minus one Marcus.

Two foes left. Urkish went down after two attacks — he was a strong bastard. My last hit knocked the wind out of Frankie — his spine crunched and burst out of his back in fragments along with his ribs. From an outsider’s perspective, it must have looked like they all exploded from within.

Fitting it all into a couple of seconds, I left my accelerated state and Stealth, then took off above the field of death, shouted to my allies:

“Meister’s raid: Run to the rendezvous point!”

After that, I went back into Clarity and flew in a circle above the graveyard. The hunt was on.

I descended on Riker the rogue again as he materialized beneath me. The mage girl Smoothie fell without knowing what hit her when I took off half her head as she stood laughing. Then Rindzin’s Ghostly Talon easily separated the nimble shapeshifter’s head from his shoulders. His dismembered arms flew away along with his grinning head… Blood, scraps of flesh and shards of bone scattered all over in slow motion. A red mist hung over the graveyard.

I had never felt such sick satisfaction from ripping through enemies. Leaving a trail of corpses behind me, I soared over the cemetery like a