Chương 69: 68-King of the Hill

The rift closed behind them as Jenna took stock of their surroundings. Miles upon miles of desert awaited them. There was a single blue sun in the sky, and the air was surprisingly cold and thin for a desert. A small rodent looked curiously at them and burrowed into the sand. Jenna expanded her spirit, becoming one with the land. Her expanded awareness transformed into a flat, featureless sea of sand with a single structure, standing out in the middle like an unsightly mole.

It was more than three hundred miles north. She swore.

"What's the problem, Jenna?" asked Bob.

"The problem is that we are on the right planet, but we must enter this world's time dungeon to continue our journey. The entry to the dungeon is 300 miles north. Navigating inside usually takes around ten minutes. I had counted on making a run for it and entering it before our enemies could use it to reach us from whichever Aeons they are coming from."

"It is too far," Bob said, finally understanding the problem.

"We are going to find them waiting for us when we reach the entry."

"They only have to dig in—they know we are not leaving this age without entering that dungeon, and the longer we remain here, the more Dissonance the Artifact emits and the more troops that come to fight us through that very same dungeon."

"What can we do, Jenna? This does not seem like a problem that can be solved," said a worried Billy.

"We wait and watch, Billy. We will think of something." At Jenna's request, Bob turned into a manta and carried both her and Billy to a vantage point 300 feet above ground. Jenna enhanced her eyesight.

"The rift looks like the entrance to a cave, and…wait! They are already pouring out. Hundreds of them."

"That wasn't even five minutes. We would have run into them if we had tried to rush this," said Bob. Jenna kept watching for the next hour, describing the process.

"There have been some fights between them over claiming rights. Short fights, unfortunately. An armored, two-headed ogre on a dragon has set himself up as king of the hill. He has a retinue of ogre warriors. There are at least four other factions. They are leaving the area and heading our way."

"So the weaker ones will try to take the Icosahedron from us and try to negotiate some arrangement with the bastard blocking the dungeon entrance," said Bob, catching it quickly.

"How are they pinpointing us so easily?" asked Billy.

"Isn't the Icosahedron's signal supposed to be diffused?"

"Over an area ten miles across, Billy," Jenna explained.

"This place is a flat, barren waste. There is no place to hide. If we remain here, we might as well wave a flag at them. We must move to stay away from them, and some move pretty fast."

"We can also turn the terrain to our advantage," said Bob.

"How?" asked Jenna.

"Dimensional barriers, the ones used to block teleports, can't be placed across such a large area. The view is unimpeded. We can teleport tens of miles by the time they reach here. There is no way they can stop it. If we keep using Celestial Gate, we will cause them to scatter, to try to cover as much terrain as possible, in the hope of catching us on one of the jumps."

"Very good, Bob," Jenna assented." Celestial Gate it is." One hour later, they had already jumped five times across the landscape. Jenna kept track of the enemy army using spirit expansion. At first, they moved like a unit, heading unerringly toward the diffuse aura emitted by the Icosahedron. After the fourth jump, they learned and dispersed all over the countryside, covering as much terrain as they could. It was an impossible task—the army was huge, but the wasteland was enormous.

After the fifth jump, the roving squads began to split into much smaller groups, trading security for scouting capability. The Losers stood atop a hill, waiting for the enemy to come up. Only a small squad of flyers headed their way. They had already learned that they teleported exactly eight minutes after reaching a new destination. The scattered squads were betting on getting lucky and having the Losers jump into an already occupied location. Jenna trained her enhanced eyesight on the newcomers.

"What are we facing, Jenna?" Bob asked.

"Besides the ogre faction, which currently holds the entry to the dungeon, there are four additional ones," she answered.

"Some type of Mad Max-like rovers riding living mounts that resemble motorbikes when seen from afar, a horde of imps, some guys in uniform with crossbows, and the flying ones, which look like Taoist priests riding clouds. A group of the latter is two minutes away from our position, trying to flush us out."

"How are we doing on Achievement Points, Billy?"

"Not good, Jenna. This system is locked. I won't get any AP out of this fight."

"Can't you use some of Bob's Experience Tonic before we take them out?"

"The only bottle I had broke during the fight with Marphel, Jenna. I did not even have time to use it."

"Ouch. That certainly complicates things. We are going to have to be extra careful with your points, Billy. Anyway, there is no way to avoid losing Whisper's points. You'd better discorporate." Billy went into the Blue Room with a flash of light. Jenna concealed herself among a sparse patch of desert scrub. Bob used his own shapeshifting powers to transform into a wounded replica of one of the Taoists approaching their position, then waved at them, holding the Icosahedron in his right hand.

◇ Wu Jen, the Glorious Fist of the Morning, praised the heavens as he saw another Taoist waving to attract their attention. Their flying clouds had given them a great advantage when scouting—they were extremely fast, even if they could not soar more than thirty feet above the ground.

"Who is he? Does anyone recognize him? What sect is he from?"

"He looks wounded, Master," said one of his students.

"His group must have fought the Losers and won. He must be the only survivor. He will bring great glory to his sect."

"Yes, dying heroically defending the Tao always brings glory," Wu Jen answered.

"Not as much as bringing the Treasure from Heaven home, which is our destiny. We will make sure he gets a hero's funeral. This is an auspicious day, indeed," said Wu Jen, who was already thinking of how to get rid of his four meddlesome students before reaching their main encampment. A single hero was better than five. Suddenly, an enormous shadow passed over him. It was so massive and flew so fast that the blast of wind almost threw him off his cloud.

"It is Carnage, that bloody dragon the Ogre King rides," he screamed in fury as he recognized the beast. He could only scream in outrage as the enormous dragon grasped the surviving Taoist in one massive claw and flew away with him as fast as the wind.

"Damn that scheming two-headed bastard. We had agreed he would share half the Keeper's reward with whoever brought him the Artifact. We found it, and he does not intend to give us our share. The Sect must know of this." The priests turned around and went back to their main camp. No one betrayed the Children of Heaven and lived to tell the tale. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

◇ Two miles east, the dragon dove near the ground and allowed Jenna to jump onto his back. Then his skin changed color, making it almost undetectable. Thousand-Faced Dragon: Add two parts of River Dragon, one of Elven Gryphon, one of Thousand-Faced Assassin, and a few drops of Headless Machetist. Serve with crushed ice. Bob dropped the wounded Taoist shape and assumed his true one. Billy landed, waiting for more instructions.

The Thousand-Faced Dragon, much like the Assassin that was one of his components, could shapeshift into other dragon forms. Including Carnage's.

"And now?" asked Bob.

"Now we do it again," answered Jenna. Over the next twenty minutes, the performance repeated itself. An imp courier, a wounded Red Leaguer, and one of the steppe riders was snatched away by what appeared to be Carnage while prominently carrying the Icosahedron, and always in front of witnesses. ◇ Aargrath fed another morsel to Carnage while he waited for the rest of the idiots to bring him the Artifact. He examined the dragon's belly critically. Yes, it was definitely gaining some weight. No more morsels.

He would personally train Carnage for one extra hour each day. He was the overlord of the ogre kingdom—he could not be seen riding a fat dragon. Then Carnage did the puppy eyes again. Damn him and his scheming ways!

"Last one, you big, fat, adorable hunk," he said fondly as he threw another screaming goblin into the beast's maw.

"Sire, the other factions are approaching," Hulnir, his second-in-command, told him telepathically. He was standing watch on the southern tower.

"Fine, that means someone finally retrieved the Artifact," Aargrath answered.

"Time to go home."

"They are all approaching at the same time, Sire," said a worried Hulnir.

"That's odd," muttered Aargrath. Dissonance suddenly erupted all around him.

"The Artifact is here!" he screamed to his honor guard.

"Search for it! It can't be far. Someone must have it on his person!" Something was wrong. The Artifact emitted so much Dissonance that its presence could be pinpointed even thousands of miles away. That damned Primordial had done something to it—now it no longer felt like a single point of Dissonance, but like a huge sphere of it with a five-mile radius. Trying to locate it via Dissonance emissions invariably led to the nearest point on the surface of that sphere. It was worse if you were inside it.

You knew the Artifact was near, but it could not be located. And he was inside the sphere. He knew because the Artifact's presence gave him no sense of direction. He sent his mind towards Hulnir.

"Are you out of the Dissonance sphere, Huln?" he asked him.

"Can you sense the nearest point to the surface? Perhaps you can point it out to me?

"Hmm, Sire," Hulnir answered.

"It seems to be you." Aargrath watched incredulously as the four allied factions converged on him and his men. Five minutes earlier"We have two huge advantages over these monsters," Jenna said as she explained the final phase of the plan.

"The first one is that after our sting, all four factions think that Aargrath already has the Icosahedron. The second one is that they are planning their moves in two dimensions—spheres have three." Now The Celestial Gate opened almost five miles directly above Aargrath. At ground level, the bottom of the enormous sphere of Dissonance converged on the Ogre King, making him appear to be carrying the Artifact.

Billy's shapeshifting dragon could easily adapt to the low temperature and lack of oxygen, but Jenna had to share some of her freebie points with Bob so that they could survive the harsh conditions. Only the idea of a massive betrayal from Aargrath could have made the other factions unite against him.

"Get ready, Billy," Jenna told her dragon boyfriend.

"You go in in five minutes." ◇ Aargrath gaped as the other four factions clashed with his honor guard. Then, he jumped on his dragon in a single lithe movement.

"To war, Carnage!" ◇ Wu Jen turned into a cloud of butterflies one instant before an ogre hit him with a cleaver. He reformed behind his attacker, hitting his back with the Palm of Seven Poisons. The ogre fell to the ground, spasming. ◇ The Imp Collective sang their magical slogans: "No Gods, No Kings, No Masters," "Magic is a Universal Right," "Better Dead than Bound." Each time the crowd cheered one of them, one of the imps became a living spell and hurled toward their enemies.

The imp did not survive, but its sacrifice advanced the Collective's goals. For the cause. ◇ Buran from the Steppes hurled a javelin from atop his living bike. It took down another ogre. Suddenly, the world turned upside down. He fell and cracked several ribs on impact. He opened his eyes and, from the ground, saw a crossbow bolt piercing Davas's only eye, his bike. He had raised that bike from a pup. It had not even been an ogre that brought them down—it had been a crossbow bolt, like those used by the Red League.

It was every man for himself. He threw another javelin, slaying the nearest Leaguer.

"Kill everyone!" he shouted to his host.

"Leave no one alive. They are all enemies!" ◇ Carnage flew over the enemy forces, raining annihilation down on them. They screamed, dancing the dance of fire.

"I am going to let you eat half of them, Carnage; you have earned it. I don't mind that you grow so fat that you can't fly anymore," Aargrath told him proudly, while he steered him expertly above ground. A single imp entered the dragon's mouth as it was inhaling to spit another stream of fire.

"We shall not be bound!" it screamed as it entered it. Carnage's head exploded. Suddenly, Aargrath's world spun as the ground rushed toward him. He had time for one last scream as Carnage's body fell onto him. He should not have let it get that fat. ◇"Okay, Billy, this is not going to get much more messed up. Time to move," Jenna ordered. The Thousand-Faced Dragon dove gracefully towards the mouth of the cave that housed the time dungeon. It was guarded by a group of elite ogres.

They had orders not to leave it, no matter what happened. Jenna enhanced her own body and Bob's, increasing their dexterity. They jumped from the dragon seconds before it crashed into the guards, rolling lithely to absorb the impact. Billy discorporated and returned to his natural form. It only cost one point, after all. The Losers ran down the corridor into the dungeon. Wu Jen suddenly noticed them and realized what was going on: "They have the Artifact," he screamed, pointing at them.

The factions stopped fighting and ran into the dungeon, realizing they had been fooled. It was now or never. The one who got the Artifact would win the Keeper's prize. If they entered the time corridors, all was lost. The Losers ran as fast as their stats and powers allowed them, with five whole armies pursuing them down those endless corridors. They finally reached the central nave. Its layout was very similar to that of the black tower, including the central lake.

A twelve-year-old girl with diamonds for eyes sat on a throne, gaping at them. It was the Keeper.

"Do you also wish to buy directions?" It stammered in a voice like the droning of insects.

"Another day, sweetie," Jenna shouted back as they reached the entrance to the third corridor from the right. Exchange had already calculated which way they had to go.

"Third corridor, they are entering the third corridor, Master," one of those annoying Taoists shouted, closing in on their tails. The whole crowd of mutants, imps, ogres, Taoists, maddened militants, and Mad Max rejects chased after them, howling for blood. Bob turned around and worked some of his magic with Jenna's help. Condensation (Watercraft Level 3): Extract moisture from any water source in sight and condense it in the air—scales with Mind.

The condensed moisture lasts for at least one hour after being conjured. A huge wave of mist surged from the underground lake, filling all the corridors with thick fog. There was chaos among their pursuers as they tried not to get lost in the mist—choosing the wrong corridor meant being lost for days inside the meandering time maze. Fourth corridor. Sixth corridor. Only ten more.

"Something is wrong, Bob; some are still on our trail."

"Those are the ones with an enhanced sense of smell," answered the Skillmaster as he conjured his Arcane Die and improvised a perk. Living Smell (Gambling 3): Animates the scent trail left by you and your companions for ten seconds. The smell will choose a different route for as long as it exists. The route is chosen randomly. Requires Synesthetic Smell (Tastecraft 3). The perk will dismantle after being used.

Through his Synesthetic Smell perk, Bob watched as shadowy twins made of fragrance exited through the fifth door, while the Losers took the seventh one. The chaos behind them grew fainter as their pursuers were led astray among the wrong doors. Six choices later, they breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the rift leading out of the time dungeon and to their destination. They heard movement behind them, and they turned around.

That annoying disciple who had tattled on them was the only one of the thousands pursuing them who had made it this far. He smirked at them.

"We have them. We finally have them. And it was I who made it possible." He suddenly realized he was alone. He smiled sheepishly at the Losers, turned around, and ran.

"Won't he take the others to us?" asked Billy.

"That is not how time dungeons work. He will become lost in the tunnels the moment he tries to follow the same path in reverse," answered Bob.

"Can't believe we made it," said Billy.

"Pity it will only work once," added Bob.

"In that case, we will think of something else," said Jenna, as she guided them toward the exit.