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

the Liberation icon turned gray. Lethargy on Quetzal! The titan Destroyer fell into a deep sleep and I rose into the sky. So we couldn’t deal any damage, but everything else worked?

Fortunately for me, the debuff didn’t affect my ability to fly. Two mages with Levitation took off in pursuit. I sharply changed direction toward Youlang and flew straight at her. She tried to cast Sheep on me, but I interrupted the cast with a punch. Or at least, I tried to punch her, but something strange happened. A ghostly talon nearly two feet long shot out of my arm. My body flashed with fire that quickly dissipated.

You are unarmed! Rindzin’s Ghostly Talon activated!

 

The talon sank into Youlang’s chest. Zero damage, but the spellcaster lost her concentration and fell with a scream from ninety feet in the air. The second mage hesitated after seeing the spellcaster’s sorry end. Levitation was a good spell, but hard to keep active at lower levels if you get hit. While Youlang fell, I took advantage of Imitation to copy her class and level up the skill.

Chaos reigned below, with only two bodies standing motionless: Youlang and Quetzal. Fear was still active, and most of the players were running around like headless chickens. Paying them no more mind, I shot toward the Pitfall.

In flight, as I examined my surroundings, I finally glanced at the logs — Liberation, Lethargy and Unarmed Combat +1! Irita had said that the Games were fast-paced because skills and levels progressed very quickly. Something similar happened during the Ordeal, so I was used to the fast tempo.

I’d come up with my strategy the night before, while tossing and turning in my bed. It all depended on which skills I had left, so I thought of multiple options for different skillsets. I had hoped to have not only Depths Teleportation, but also the mantras I’d learned from Oyama. They weren’t showing in my profile, and nothing happened when I said them aloud.

The Nether with it. I could make do without my missing abilities. I had what I needed, and even more — that Talon was incredible! Anyway, I hadn’t even hoped that my +10 to all main stats from Junior Gladiator would still be there. I’d just forgotten all about it; in Dis, the increase was negligible. Here, on the other hand, it was a powerful boost, and I ended up with seventy points in total, equal to twenty levels.

Now to test out a theory related to the mechanics of the bosses guarding the gates. I flew into the Pitfall, saw the first and second seals broken, the gates wide open. The corpses of the bosses lay sprawled at the entrance. It seemed the mobs here didn’t disappear after death; there was no point, since they didn’t respawn.

The group that threw me into the Pitfall was descending below. Destiny!

The staircase built into the wall was around fifteen feet wide. The players walked down it, happily chatting away and discussing the loot that dropped on floor one. They didn’t see me.

Flying closer, I smiled and launched myself right at them. The shapeshifter magician was my first target. I caught him unprepared, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and throwing him over the edge.

“Sorry, Messiah, nothing personal!” I shouted after him as he fell with a scream.

The others froze in confusion. I picked out my next target and flew straight at her at full speed. Destiny took out her bow, but it was no help. The arrow took away six points of my health, and the elf girl had no time to shoot again. Grabbing her by the arm, I soared away. Weak spells showered me and a dart hit me. None of it saved the elf. Holding the screaming Destiny before me as she tried to claw out my eyes, I spoke:

“If you come back, I’ll throw you down a second time. And then we’ll be even.”

With those words, I dropped her into the abyss. Now that the group leader was dealt with, I looked around. More and more people were arriving from the graveyard and descending into the Pitfall. The others from Destiny’s group were pressed against the wall, their arms locked together. The ones at the ends of the row bristled with weaponry.

“After me, slowly,” Urkish the lopher said to the others, keeping his eyes locked on me. “He can’t touch us inside.”

I wouldn’t be able to pull their human chain apart. I cast another regretful glance their way, trying to identify a weak link, but found no good targets.

“That’s how you’re going to have to move around the Cursed Chasm from now on,” I laughed, cancelling Flight.

I fell down a few floors, stopping to hover before the gates at floor ten. The players wouldn’t get here any time soon, and the boss should be around my strength — counting my debuff, of course. But with my perks and rewards… I only had three hundred and ninety health now! And there were no penalties for level differences!

I placed my hand on the seal and realized I couldn’t pull it away. Thousands of needles stuck into it, sucking out my blood. The seal filled with red, flashed and receded into the gates, which began to open with a screech.

Resilience level increased: +1. Current level: 2.

A bloodcurdling roar boomed out from inside. My health dropped by 10%! That was news — did that mean that the deeper you went, the more painful it was to break the seals? Below level 100, it could mean guaranteed death!

I jumped back, hovering above the abyss around thirty feet from the gate.

A hellish beast stuck its head out of the tunnel leading into the dungeon. It looked like Anubis from Ancient Egypt, a nine-foot humanoid with a dog’s head, long sharp ears, eyes flickering with flame.

Alpha Ryukitsu, Demon, level