City of Fallen Souls: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 3) by Jez Cajiao (fb2 epub reader .txt) 📕

The gauntlet was crushed, the steel plate snagging me and pinning me under the Golem, and I screamed in agony as my entire body pivoted around. My momentum came to a halt as the flesh and bits of gristle connecting the healthy parts of my hand to the pancaked bit tore.

I looked up as the camouflage spell fell away and the golem tilted its head to look down at me, spinning its spear around and lining it up to thrust into my chest.

I gritted my teeth and pulled, my flesh tearing as I howled through lips white with the force.

I felt the gauntlet resist and I frantically yanked harder, when a link gave way, and I came free. The spear slammed down point first into the marble, carving a narrow furrow in the floor as I fell back, blood spurting from my ruined hand.

I rolled frantically and forced myself to my feet. I was panicking, desperate to find somewhere to hide away from the Golem, running as my eyes helpfully linked up the sight of the furrow on the floor with multiple similar markings that had been inexpertly patched or smoothed over. My Perception bonus kicked in, and suddenly, half the floor was glowing.

Lines crisscrossed the floor in all directions, and I started jinking from side to side, running down aisles of bookshelves and paintings, skidding past decorative pieces and armor that glowed golden. Golden armor? Seriously, what fucking use would that shit be?! I heard my brain screaming at me, latching onto the mundane in an effort to gain control again.

I came to a stop by the end of one aisle, now thoroughly confused, clutching my bloody hand and trying to work out where the hell I was. I desperately tried to predict where the Golem would be, which made me flinch as I realized I had not seen this area from the door.

I’d only seen a few bookshelves and the one locked case that was behind the desk downstairs, so either there was an illusion from the door, or…

I felt the tremor in the floor at the same time that I sprinted forward, as the Golem suddenly emerged from the middle of a goddamn shelf. The fucking room had illusions in place to confuse me! I must have triggered them somehow, and the Golems either knew they weren’t real or didn’t care.

I raced between various shelves and items, reaching out and getting a jolt of electricity in warning as I touched a sword on a stand. I’d been testing to see if it were an illusion; nope! Guessed wrong there!

“Fuck!” I swore, using a healing spell and frantically hoping it would be strong enough to heal my mangled hand. I felt the flesh and bone regrowing and closing slowly, but I realized how much mana Oracle was using as well, and I panicked, knowing she needed it to save my ass with the Golems.

I scanned the surroundings quickly, finding a rack of potions on one far wall and sprinting toward them. The thundering steps of the Golem followed behind me, spurring me forward. I had nearly made it when Bane tackled me from the side, sending me sprawling, just as a huge, spiked mace flew through the air where I’d been a second before. I hit the ground and rolled, shoving myself upright as Bane shimmied up a shelving unit and leapt away, vanishing again.

“Bane!” I growled, ducking under an enormous stone fist and sprinting off again, trying not to get cornered. “I told you to stay outside!”

“Let’s argue about that later, okay?” he called down to me, and I started to swear under my breath. “There are two more to the left. They’re standing by the end of the desks!” I swore, turning and sprinting down another aisle.

“Find the control room!” I barked to him, jumping as a massive spear flew through the air and slammed into a bookshelf with a crunch, then fell to the floor as books rained down around it.

I changed direction again, diving down another aisle, frightfully aware that some of these aisles were fake, and others real. I was being funneled around the room, taking my one advantage in speed away from me.

I couldn’t keep this up.

“Jax it’s done!” Oracle shouted.

“Order it to protect us and get to the next one!” I shouted back.

“Got it!” She launched herself across the room to land on another Golem as it started to pick its spear up from the floor. It slowed, grinding to a halt as she sank her hand into the gemstone on its chest, slowly taking over its commands and instilling loyalty to me instead.

“They’re following an old set of orders!” she called out after a second.

“What orders?” I screamed, jumping up, planting one foot on a display cabinet and using it to leap higher to grab ahold of the bottom of the balcony on the next level. I pulled myself up, grunting with the effort as my still-healing little finger screamed with pain. Bracing myself, I jumped again, landing on top of a bookshelf nearby.

Thankfully, it was real, and the axe-wielding Golem took a chunk out of the balcony where I’d been a second before as I took off again.

“Two Golems down…” I muttered to myself as I ran, jumping from the top of the case I was on, and falling straight through the illusory one ahead. I screamed briefly, landing hard on the marble floor and frantically throwing myself into a roll.

I came to my feet, wincing as my right ankle screamed at me, and I hobbled forward, frantically casting another healing spell. I felt the throbbing start to go down, when Bane shouted out.

“To your right!” His voice carried across the room. “Look out!” I set off again, trying to run, my spell fizzling out as I lost concentration, and I groaned as the backlash tore through me.

“He’s not going to make it, LEGION!” I heard Bane call, and a second later, a trio of huge Legionnaires passed me,