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

on a ghostly shape as if woven from the air, and flew into the demon’s side. I punched unhurriedly, methodically, tracking my progress. With each quickened Hammerfist, Despot shifted closer to the edge. With his heart back inside him, he was vulnerable again and shouldn’t survive the fall even if Abaddon ignored his relative.

When Despot’s rear was hanging over the edge, I left my quickened state. For the demon, only a second had passed. He must have felt the strikes and the speed with which I pushed him over the edge, because he shook his head in despair and roared something:

“…ally!”

Oh, now I was ‘ally,’ and not just ‘mortal.’ The demon was really coming along in socialization and effective communication.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you. What?”

“You have convinced me, ally!” The demon dropped to one knee. Breaking through the bones of his ribcage, he reached inside his chest and pulled out the anthracite crystal heart, crisscrossed with black veins. “I return to you my heart, and to myself — invulnerability to mortals! I pledge to obey your orders.”

“How did you get it back?” I asked, putting the crystal away in my inventory.

“You left me inside and took my heart. It is a part of my being, and we cannot be separated by any barrier. The sealed gates were such a barrier. When you disappeared, the heart returned to its place.”

“So you’ll fight with me against Abaddon?”

“Against the general of Prince Belial himself?” Despot snorted flames. “Ally, I would fight that arrogant mutant of the Inferno without an order from you. I fought against Abaddon’s army in the Dominion Wars. But not here. A demon cannot harm another demon in the Games. Unlike you mortals, we have a shared goal.”

So the whole Pitfall was a kind of peaceful zone for demons? Well, that made sense.

“Shame,” I said, thinking for a moment and finding only one use for the boss: “Then your job is to guard the entrance to the Pitfall from my enemies and patrol the upper floors. You’ll eat your fill and me and my allies will have an easier time. Uhm… Incidentally, how do you tell friend from foe?”

“I can smell it. The souls of mortals hold all their secret thoughts. My task is clear. It will be done, ally.”

With those words, Despot darted back down the staircase.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“I sense an enemy soul!”

I flew after him and saw who he meant. Inchito couldn’t have known what hit him, only that something bony and fiery landed on him from above. A wave of a halberd arm and the light priest fell, his legs cut off. Despot gulped down the limbs while Inchito cast a spell, and a column of light lanced down on the demon, but dealt no damage; the golden streams of fire flowed off him like water. Ghogghrr-ing, Despot swiped at Inchito with an arm as he screamed, making him wail ever louder, touching him with the deadly demonic aura. Bones crunched in the demon’s mouth and the priest went back to respawn. At the graveyard…

The graveyard! Where Quetzal and Hellfish were!

I shot off back there and arrived just in time. My allies had already resurrected and were running away when Inchito appeared behind them and began to give chase. Marcus’s main raid was due to resurrect very soon after its hour stuck in Spirit Shackles, although they would no longer have their leader. My job was to carry my people to the Pitfall in time.

In Clarity, I flung myself toward Inchito, who was already preparing to hit them with a spell, a sparkling whirlwind of light spinning above his head. The first strike interrupted the cast, but the priest survived with 1% health, flaring up with some shield of light, and fell only after a second Hammerfist.

I dropped down before my sprinting allies, left Clarity. They both stopped suddenly and swore.

Hellfish, again in wolf form, growled in surprise, turned to Quetzal:

“I don’t even know what to do; thank this asshole or take his skin off. What do you think?”

“Something went wrong for him again,” the titan chuckled. Turning, he glanced at the graveyard. “Judging by what I see in the raid list, Destiny survived. Since she’s alive, that means the kid saved her. So the question is, could he have saved us too? Or did he just want to get rid of us?”

“I didn’t plan for any of that!” I said. “The demon rebelled and almost killed the elf girl. I had to spend my reward on her.”

“How the hell did it happen?” Hellfish said, frowning. “I’m not moving until you explain to me what you were up to!”

“I really didn’t expect him to aggro. The devs put a trick in the ally mechanics and I lost control of him. I had to show him who’s boss in the Pitfall.”

“And what now? Is he obeying you?” the werewolf growled.

“Mostly, but he can’t leave the Pitfall. So he won’t be any help to us here. Or against the bosses, for that matter — turns out he can’t hit his own… One sec!”

The figure of Inchito had appeared in the churchyard. I shot over there, cut him down another level and came back.

Quetzal went on as if nothing had happened:

“So the demon won’t help us farm the dungeons? Shame. Your pet turned out useless.”

“It is what it is. Come on, let me take you to the others and then I’ll come back. The Markers are about to revive, I need to be ready for them or they’ll get away. I doubt they’ll get to you — the demon should intercept them, — but we need to end them today so we can finally start clearing the Pitfall tomorrow.”

“I don’t really want to go where that demon is hanging around,” Quetzal said, shaking his head.