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

job. The planks cracked, broke, the motionless Scyth statue got stuck on roots, and before the enemies figured out what was in the way, a precious minute had passed, and then another: 03:33… 03:32…

When the timer showed 02:45, Marcus drank down a combat potion and ordered the others to do the same. And that bore fruit — a strained screech, a bestial roar, some furious swearing and I toppled over the edge, beginning my long drop down the Pitfall.

After me came a chorus of cheers and shouts of joy, a roar from Marcus:

“No hard feelings, Sheppa-a-a-ard!”

Based on my last experience, I had two or three minutes left to fall. A second of petrification could make the difference between life and death.

To put it otherwise, everything depended on how the mechanics of the Cursed Chasm calculated fall speed in this damned chunk of land torn off the rest of the world.

Chapter 25. Reckoning

I DROPPED THROUGH THE AIR as a ten-ton stone, flipping end over end, feeling nothing, marking my passage only by the flashing lights and disappearing sky. The triumphant cries of Marcus and his people quickly fell behind. The whistle as I cut through the air grew louder, and then somehow changed in a strange way. If I hadn’t been made of solid stone, I would probably have caught fire from the friction with the air.

At some point, I just closed my eyes and concentrated entirely on the timer of Utterly Petrified. It didn’t matter if the debuff fell before or after I landed, I needed to instantly activate Clarity and Flight right away. If I stayed in stone form, I’d survive, but only to be instantly attacked by Abaddon; if I was lucky, I would just not hit the bottom before I could slow time in mid-air and take control of my fall. That’s what I focused on, hypnotized by the countdown on the debuff.

I was still falling, with no sense of space, but every sense of time — the countdown showed: 00:03… 00:02… 00:01…

Utterly Petrified effect ended!

 

The notification appeared at the same time as two other skills activated:

Clarity activated: your speed increases significantly and you can foresee the movements of enemies.

 

Flight activated: you can fly without limits!

 

A demonic hand extended and froze right beneath me — flexible and incredibly long, but still not fast enough to close its fingers in time. I shot upwards. Abaddon’s furious roar melded with the rush of wind in my ears.

I flew for several seconds in Clarity, gaining speed, then switched it off, but my momentum still made me fly far faster than usual. Even as fast as I was, it was a three minute flight to the top. In that time, I figured out my strategy for what came next.

I was in two minds about what to spend my precious time on. My heart screamed at me to go to the graveyard to see who I could save — there were around seventy Markers butchering all three of my allied squads, cutting them down to level zero. Rationally I knew that I needed to take out my strongest enemies right away, while they thought I was dead and weren’t hurrying or hiding, confident that the game was done.

Spurred on by those thoughts, I made a choice. Marcus, Inchito, Caville, Urkish and the others had to die. With Clarity, it would take me no more than a minute, but I’d be able to rest easy. And as soon as I severed the head of the enemy raids, I could rush to the cemetery.

I was in such a hurry that Marcus’s squad nearly escaped my attention. They’d turned off the road into the woods. Catching them in the corner of my eye and throwing on Stealth, I dropped down toward them, aiming to pick up Marcus and throw him into the Pitfall. I realized why they had changed their route only when I got closer.

Stopping in place above my enemies, I saw Marcus lifting Destiny up by her throat.

“For the last time,” the orc roared. “Yes or no? Your word, princess, is something you have to keep!”

“Go… to the Nether…” the elf girl croaked.

Now it was my turn to fulfill a promise. I forbade myself from even thinking of what I’d get from Destiny for getting her near the top of the leaderboard, let alone talking about it; I couldn’t show my cards to the corporation, since I was under especially close surveillance.

I left Quetzal’s raid, then invited Destiny to my group.

Destiny, Elf, level 1 Silver Ranger, has joined your group.

 

“Come on, Des, be reasonable!” Urkish said. “Then we’ll be on the same side again. Marcus is right, you had an agreement. He held up his end of the bargain, but you didn’t do what you promised!”

The girl didn’t give away my presence. A shadow of relief flashed on her face, but her inborn gift as an actress helped her play her role properly:

“You’re disgusting, Ezekiel!” Destiny’s voice shook. “I can’t believe I thought you were my friend…”

“Enough!” Marcus roared, letting go of the elf girl’s throat. He pulled out a huge club and hefted it. “You’ll be out of the Games before you can blink. Three… Two…”

One! Ghastly Howl! Two seconds to finish the howl, then — Clarity! They didn’t have time to get properly scared, freezing in various poses, but each had the Fear debuff. Destiny’s eyes were wide, her mouth open in a scream — she was afraid she was about to die, after all. The stone club had just begun to fall from the orc bruiser’s opening fingers, his teeth bared in grimace of shock.

I grabbed Marcus and bolted back toward the Pitfall. I felt like I was the one dragging a statue this time. The orc shouted something, but I heard only a