Path of Spirit (Disgardium Book #6): LitRPG Series, Dan Sugralinov [the reader ebook .TXT] 📗

the game, but, fortunately for Otto, that was after the illusion mage Hinterleaf was transferred to my control,” Hinterleaf, who was apparently Pecheneg, finished his story.

“And I got the barbarian,” added Pecheneg, controlled by Otto. “We planned to get rid of the character, but I managed to… let’s say, achieve an unusual status. Corrupted Adamantite, remember, Scyth? So we decided to keep Pecheneg and build a new compact and closed clan around him. My family formed its core.”

“This is pretty confusing,” I said, scratching my head and trying to parse it all. “But… Who did I meet in Dubai? Which one of you spoke to me in Polotsky’s office? And who was the Hinterleaf who showed up with the other Alliance leaders at Distival? The one who refused to take me into Modus?”

“Sergei doesn’t like publicity,” Pecheneg-Otto answered. “We decided not to change anything in real life. Everyone still thinks the Hinterleaf character is me. To all of them, Otto Hinterleaf is the leader of Modus. I was the one who refused you, but at Sergei’s order.”

“Piper brought you to me,” Hinterleaf-Sergei said. “Back then, in Dubai, you spoke to me unaware that I was the true leader of Modus. Naturally, Otto later familiarized himself with a recording of the conversation, so as not to slip up when he met you in Dis.”

“So all your so-called intel, the analysis you spoke of…” I stopped, realizing I was asking the obvious. “Blackberry’s ‘betrayal’ was scripted too?”

“Of course,” Hinterleaf easily admitted. “I came up with the operation personally. I admit, I wanted to destroy you, but I kept in mind all the time that this partnership would give me and the clan far more than a few artifacts taken from the Treasury.”

“Like with Crag?”

“Great example!” the gnome gleamed. “After the destruction of the temple in the desert, we planned to end our collaboration, but I managed to convince the boy to work a little longer. To strengthen Mogwai and his crew…”

He muttered the final words, darkening. But then shook himself and continued:

“We’ll save that subject for the end of our conversation. Blackberry, ‘banished’ from Modus, was supposed to insinuate herself into your trust and join the Awoken by any means necessary. That plan B, was, of course, our long game in case plan A failed. We planned to eliminate you way back on the first day of Nergal’s Summons!”

“Well, sorry to disappoint.”

“Then you ruined our relationship with the Goblin League by taking control of me. Still later, Eileen imprisoned you. Everyone knew whose tune she was dancing to. Relations with the Children of Kratos were strained. Friction began in the Alliance, and gone was the prior hint of mutual trust. In principle, there is only one clan left there that I am certain of — the Travelers, Horvac’s clan. We had a whole range of surprises stored up for you for the battle at the temple…”

“Like Conjoining of Souls?” I interrupted, meeting Hinterleaf’s eyes unflinchingly.

The gnome’s eyes narrowed, his questioning gaze burning into me. He looked at Pecheneg, who shook his head.

“Did you really manage to make a deal with Yary?” Hinterleaf asked, turning back to me. “Nobody else knows about the artifact.”

I was already cursing my flapping tongue; I’d seen the Conjoining of Souls in an alternate future that never happened, seen through Divine Revelation, but the question demanded an answer.

“I never kiss and tell. But no, I have my own sources, related to…” I pointed upwards. “To my protectors. Anyway, all this is a lot of fun, and thank you for sharing, but those same protectors have given me a bunch of work to do. If you think I believe you and will cancel my attack on the Modus castle, you’re mistaken. But even if your whole story is true, I don’t see why I should change my decision.”

“What do you need?” Hinterleaf asked. “Speak plainly. Not the castle itself, I think. More likely whatever you think is kept in it. Money? Modus isn’t the only clan with a castle that fits that bill. There are easier targets. In any case, I’m sure you’re rich enough, Scyth. What do you need? I swear, if it’s within my power, I’ll give it to you.”

“Will you swear that to an Arbiter?”

Without answering, Hinterleaf summoned an Eye. Both he and Pecheneg uttered the words of the oath. The Arbiter accepted it, threatened Celestial Arbitration if the oath was broken, and disappeared.

The gnome suddenly jumped up, his hands glowing with golden light. Before I could react, he launched a stream of fiery sparks. Turning, I saw that a band of viking bandits had approached us. The sparks killed the level 200 mobs instantly. In the meantime, Sharkon devoured another group on the other side of the ravine.

“I need Concentrated Life Essence,” I revealed once the gnome returned to his place next to me.

“You’re planning to fight the Destroying Plague, aren’t you?!” Hinterleaf clapped his fist into his right hand, his eyes burning. “Right? That’s why you need the essence? You don’t have to answer, I get it. But if I’m right, that’s all the more reason for us to be partners!”

“Stop!” I raised my hands. “One thing at a time. What about the essence?”

“We don’t have any of it,” the gnome spread his hands. “And I’ll tell you right now, nobody has it in the Alliance or any other clans. In the under twenty years of Dis’s existence, the champions of the Demonic Games have obtained it only eighteen times. In seventeen of them, the winner used the essence — it’s hard to refuse a bonus of three thousand points to a priority stat. It was sold only once, because the champion, a Grand Master of Fishing, didn’t need the boost, and planned to retire from Dis anyway.”

“Who bought it?”

The gnome raised his index finger. I looked