Chương 109: Chapter 108

Devious Little Shit A little dazed, Caxir found himself staring at the bone fragments littering the floor. Some were small, little more than the size of a fingernail. Others, however, were much larger, and he could easily imagine the sections of skull they had come from.

"What are your orders, Master?" asked Ryul. Caxir jumped at the words and looked up to find his four remaining Death Knights staring at him expectantly.

"Yes..." said Caxir slowly.

"Your orders." The necromancer glanced past his warriors to see the man standing patiently with his arms crossed. He was studying Caxir intently. A little of the coldness had faded from his eyes, and the corners of his mouth twitched as though he were fighting back a smile. He was enjoying himself. Caxir wasn't sure which version was more terrifying: the cold, ruthless killer, or the one who seemed to take pleasure in the violence. Either way, he had no interest in remaining to find out what happened next.

A truly great leader had the wisdom to know that there were times when the correct course of action was to stand and fight. They also knew there were times when retreat was the only sensible option – to disengage and live to fight another day. He would flee, continue his research and work, then return for his revenge when he was ready.

"Kill him!" * The little rat bastard... Caxir gave the order, then turned and scurried from the room. He hoisted up his robes so he wouldn't trip, only to realise he had no hands free to carry his staff. After a moment's panicked deliberation, he wedged it awkwardly between his shoulder and chin. It smacked into the doorframe as he left, forcing him to twist awkwardly just to make it into the corridor. The guy was an absolute cretin.

On the bright side, I couldn't imagine it'd be difficult to catch up with him after I'd dealt with his minions. Speaking of which... The remaining four skeletal warriors spread out before me, the 'tank' positioning himself at the front. His sword came free with a rasp, and he raised his shield.

"Attack!" he roared. His voice was nothing like Caxir's. It was deep and powerful – the kind that would've inspired men to follow him into battle. And then all hell broke loose. Unlike Elidyr, whose entire tactical repertoire seemed to have revolved around being the biggest bastard in the room and hitting things really hard, the rest of the group appeared to have a brain… figuratively, of course. The tank charged, crossing the distance with a speed that surprised even me. Perhaps it was some sort of ability?

He slammed into me shield first, driving me back a step. He swung his shield arm aside, then lunged, attempting to skewer me with his sword. I caught the blade, my titanic durability preventing the metal from piercing my skin. To be fair to the guy, it was a pretty impressive combination. Charge and knock your opponent off balance with your shield, then follow up with a thrust of the sword. He'd probably done the same thing a thousand times in his past life, opening new holes in countless opponents.

Not today, buddy. I'm perfectly happy with the number of holes I already have. Then he made his first mistake: he didn't let go of his sword. Instead, he clung to it like a dog refusing to give up its favourite chew toy. I flung the sword – and him with it – across the room. It turned out that having more than 110 strength turned you into something of a demolitionist. The skeleton didn't just fly across the room; he went like a fucking rocket. He hit the wall. It exploded. He kept going. The moral of the story?

Do not challenge Titan-form Peter Brookes to a tug of war. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to observe the rest of his journey through the pyramid. Sensing my distraction, the other warriors struck. An arrow hit me square in my enormous fivehead. It didn't break the skin, but it knocked me off balance and sent me stumbling. Before I could recover, I felt two sharp prods in my lower back and spun around to see the rogue leaping away. I tried to dive after him, but something coiled around my ankle.

I looked down to see an ethereal red chain wrapped around my lower leg. With the huge boost to my durability from Titan, they couldn't really hurt me, but I had to give credit where it was due: the bony bastards could fight. The red chain formed a tether between my leg and the caster's staff. I yanked my leg back, and he dropped the spell just in time to stop himself from being delivered face first into my fist. As skilled as they were, there was one big difference between us. I was much more handsome.

Oh, and I could fly. I stomped my foot. Hard. The floor exploded, and suddenly we were all falling through a shower of rubble. I activated Flight. And that was all she wrote. Before they could drop the thirty metres to the floor below, I'd flown through each of them with so much force that their bones turned to dust. Now… where had Caxir got– Wait. The five warriors I'd just faced were undead. And I'd destroyed them.

As they were essentially, in video game terms, mini-bosses, I wondered whether each of them counted for more than one on the Undead Destroyed tally. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Undead destroyed Pete – 38, 959 Rel – 51, 583 What the fuck!? I closed the interface and opened it again. Surely there was some sort of mistake? Undead destroyed Pete – 38, 959 Rel – 51, 685 Apparently not. Then the sound of Rel's pathetic little cough echoed through my mind.

Wait... why would being blasted by a bolt of unholy magic make him cough? That squirrely little bastard had tricked me... I didn't know whether to be angry or impressed. Either way, there was no way in hell I was letting him get away with that underhanded shit. The question was... how much time remained on Titan? If I was going to win, I needed all the help I could get. I'd never asked the system before, but it was normally pretty helpful. Time Remaining: 02: 57"Thanks!"

I didn't know whether anybody was listening, but it never hurt to be polite. I had an idea. A genius idea. An absurdly reckless idea. If I pulled it off, it could quite possibly go down as one of the greatest moments in the history of the Trials for Galaxy Showdown. Back when I'd killed Anokium, I'd flown him high into the sky before divebombing back to the surface, but I'd pussied out once I'd reached the edge of the atmosphere. What if I'd kept going?

The speed of my Flight with Titan active was incredible, but while I was within the planet's atmosphere, I still had to contend with irritating bullshit like air resistance. Do you know where there's no air resistance? Space. Now, I'd seen lots of films and TV shows when I was growing up where people would somehow end up in space. One of two things would normally happen: they'd explode, or they'd turn blue, frost spreading over their skin as they very quickly turned into some sort of human icicle.

But those were ordinary humans. I was Peter Brookes, the Avatar of Peasants and Bane of the Dark. I had 106 durability and a lung capacity that would put a whale to shame. Time Remaining: 02: 38 Shit. There was no time to waste. Needing every point of strength I could muster to boost the speed of Flight, I withdrew every item I could from my inventory, getting dressed quicker than someone who's just heard their affair partner's husband come home early.

And then I was flying upwards, exploding through floor after floor of the pyramid until I burst through the top. I caught flashes of light in the corner of my eye – no doubt Rel's work – but I didn't have time to get a proper look. Within seconds, I was soaring through the clouds, and the enhancement on my peasant garb immediately went to war against the water now saturating the material. I drew in one last lungful of air, surprised at how difficult it was, and pushed on.

I went up, and up, the sky growing darker as blue gave way to black. I glanced to the side and saw I was passing the height I'd reached with Anokium, where the curvature of the Trial Zone had first become visible. I kept going, the final remnants of blue vanishing entirely, until all that remained before me was an endless expanse of black punctuated by countless specks of silver. There was a brief moment of panic where the part of my brain still attuned to life on Earth told me to breathe.

Fortunately, the part that understood the extent of my newfound greatness shut that shit down straight away. Time Remaining: 01: 12 It was going to be tight, but I knew I needed to keep going if I wanted to pull off what I had in mind. Time Remaining: 00: 47 Rather than slowing down, I looped around, determined to preserve as much of my momentum as possible. As I began my return journey, my jaw dropped. I couldn't just see the curvature of the Trial Zone anymore. I could see the whole planet.

In many ways, it was similar to Earth, with vast swathes of land surrounded by ocean, but it was also undeniably alien. The shapes of the continents were entirely different, and whereas Earth was a patchwork of greens, browns, blues, and whites, the Trial Zone was far more diverse. The area we'd found ourselves in – Oakreach, Stonehaven, and the surrounding forests – was, of course, green.

North of there, though far closer than I'd have imagined based on how long it had taken us to fly there, were the icy blues of the Great Frost Plains. Beyond them stretched a vast ocean, and then an enormous landmass of deep red that reminded me of the surface of Mars. What the fuck was over there? Time Remaining: 00: 42 I shoved the thought aside. I had work to do.

* Undead destroyed Pete – 38, 959 Rel – 54, 583 Amplified by the effects of the Heart of Lightning, Rel's booming, maniacal laughter rolled across the land, audible even over the rumble of thunder and the roar of flames. He was going to win! At the thought of it, glorious visions flooded his mind. Pete kneeling before Voklum, Allaria, and Kaelis, his head buried in his hands as he made a truly shocking announcement... That peasant garb was not, in fact, stylish in any way, shape, or form.

It was nothing more than practical, affordable, hardwearing clothing worn by manual labourers. Wizard robes and hats, on the other hand... they were elegant and sophisticated. They projected class, authority, and mastery of the arcane. When Pete was finished, he'd look up, a solitary tear rolling down his face. Rel briefly considered whether licking it would be taking things too far. Probably. But he wouldn't rule anything out just yet. He'd go with the flow and do what felt right in the moment.

His laughter intensified, and he threw his head back, letting his spells run on autopilot. Then he saw it... something high in the night sky. A speck of white, burning far brighter than any of the other stars. And it was moving fast. Impossibly fast. It wasn't a star, then... a meteor? It drew nearer, hurtling towards the surface like a spear of incandescent light. It blazed with colours so intense that they put his own spells to shame: white, blue, orange and red. Rel gawped, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

Then his survival instincts kicked in. Whatever it was, it was heading straight for the city. With a string of swear words that would make a sailor blush, Rel cast Ribbons of Flame, commanding them to form a fiery cocoon around him. At the same time, he shot skyward, desperately trying to put as much distance between himself and the surface as possible. He had no more time to think. The world exploded. Or at least it felt that way for a few moments.

Then a flurry of system notifications appeared in his vision, and Rel realised he had not, in fact, just witnessed Armageddon. Undead destroyed Pete – 284, 959 Rel – 54, 583 Quest complete: The Necromancer Tier: Five Rating: ★★★ Recommended Group Size: 5-8 After the confrontation in his chamber, Caxir fled through the corridors of the pyramid and took refuge in a secret passageway he'd discovered during his time as a student.

Convinced he would be safe there, he intended to hide away until you grew tired of looking for him and gave up. It turns out you didn't have to find him. One of you just had to turn into a living meteor and demolish the city. Hey, who am I to judge? If it works, it works. Rewards: 800, 000 gold Cloak of the Dead 1, 300 Expedition Centre Points Bonus objective: Undead destroyed – 339, 542/5, 000 Sheesh. Now that is what I call overachieving. Bonus Reward: Ring of Life