Rewind: A Grimdark LitRPG Series (Pyresouls Apocalypse, Book 1) by James Callum (reading tree .txt) 📕

progress, waiting until he judged the moment right. As the Burgon Beast entered the courtyard, Jacob stepped off.

The wind whipped his hair around and stung his eyes, but he never blinked, never took his eyes off his mark.

The Burgon Beast and the ground below rushed up to meet him. Planting the Flag hit the Burgon Beast right in the middle, snapping its back with tremendous force and nearly killing Jacob despite the softened fall.

At over a thousand points of damage, it was worth it.

When the Burgon Beast went down, Jacob didn’t land as gracefully as he thought he would. As the beast fell to the side, Jacob went down hard and broke his right ankle as he tried, and failed, to hold onto the [Duskblade] to drive it deeper.

Without Jacob holding onto the blade, the flames on the weapon flickered and died. The area all around the sword was scorched and charred.

He rolled away, trying to expel the excess energy of the fall before it killed him. Mid-roll, he summoned a [Cinder Ampoule] and crushed it, restoring himself to half Health. The next topped him off as he rose to his feet.

His [Cinder Ampoules] had never been so weak before. A quick glance showed that he was rid of the Soulworn affliction, which meant it was whatever the Burgon Beast did to the Pyres.

Since the ampoules were a gift of the Fire Oppa - and therefore the Pyres themselves - snuffing them out was weakening the healing effect of the ampoules.

Instead of removing the [Duskblade] through dismissing and summoning it, Jacob sprinted to the Burgon Beast as it thrashed on the ground, trying to get its legs beneath it.

It would have been too much to ask that he crippled it with that initial blow. Even still, Jacob found himself moving easier. He closed on the Burgon Beast quickly.

The red jewel was shining like a beacon in the pommel. As Jacob put his hands on the hilt, he willed it to pull at the Burgon Beast’s lifeforce. Souldrinker brought forth a twisting pattern of white wisps forcibly extracted from the Burgon Beast.

Its thrashing and pained yelping grew more frantic. The Burgon Beast managed to throw Jacob off, and in the process, dislodge the sword.

Jacob hit the ground hard, knocking his head against the stones in a blinding burst of pain.

But he still had the presence of mind to roll out of the way as the Burgon Beast lunged at him, gleaming jaws snapping at the spot he just was at.

Its fury was magnified several times over with the reminder of the painful bite of the [Duskblade]. Jacob could see the unchecked rage burning in its red eyes.

With his [Cinder Ampoules] less effective and diminished in number, he couldn’t take much more damage.

Flashing his sword out with a haphazard strike, more to fend off the next attack than to deal any damage, Jacob got to his feet in a rush. Diving Falcon nicked the Burgon Beast along the ribs, drawing a pained snarl and a countering bite on Jacob’s left thigh.

Moon Crests the Horizon cut off its left ear and forced the beast back before it could sink its teeth too deeply into Jacob’s thigh. Blood flowed freely from the wound, and the Burgon Beast’s poisonous saliva scoured his veins, dropping him to a third of his Health.

By the time Jacob used an ampoule to recover his Health, and a vial of [Gekk Blood] to counteract the poison, the fierce monster was on him again. Jacob forced his blade up, bracing it with his left hand along the flat of the blade in an awkward rendition of Barring the Gate.

When the Burgon Beast snapped its jaws on the [Duskblade] it yelped in pain as the notched blade cut into its ruined maw. The barbed tongue bled freely, but the beast had succeeded in drawing Jacob’s attention fully.

Jacob noticed the snaking thread of shadow too late. The freezing bite of dry ice struck at his right ankle and crept up his calf. The numbing agony climbed higher and higher until Jacob could no longer command his right leg at all, and he went down hard.

Try as he might to slash at the Burgon Beast, few of the hits connected. It didn’t bother to use its broken maw to finish the job. The crawling shadow flames consumed him, freezing his heart.

You Died.

Waking up at the Razor Pass, Jacob thrust his hand into the Pyre feeling its warm comfort envelope him. It was even colder than before, but the Fire Oppa came faithfully to his side.

Without another word, the Fire Oppa pulled Jacob to the Drowned Halls Pyre.

The drip, drip of nearby water, and the briny scent told him that they had made it without issue. The Fire Oppa lay in the diminished flames, forlornly curled up. He reached out to soothingly pet the poor thing.

At the edges of Jacob’s vision, dancing lights flitted in and out of view, followed by more corporeal forms. Lithe and angular creatures only vaguely humanoid moved with disturbingly fluid grace.

“The barriers of the shards are breaking down,” the Fire Oppa warned. He sounded tired. “Be careful.”

Unlike last time, the Pyre was still functioning. Full Health, Stamina, and with a full - albeit diminished - stock of [Cinder Ampoules]. Jacob hesitated as he wondered whether or not to use his curse against the Burgon Beast.

Alec had told him that it might reveal locations to him. Jacob only ever found it an annoyance, one he hardly had time to explore.

Then again, Alec had several days of exploring that Jacob didn’t. Held prisoner for much of that time, Jacob was also much weaker than he should have been. Alec was nearly Level 40 when he faced the Burgon Beast.

Jacob was Level 26.

This was the last place he wanted to be. The flooding seemed to have pulled back, but now that he was here again, would the Vile Covenant’s god-thing attack him as well?

Four more lives, Jacob thought. He used an [Anima],