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

aiming for the back of his neck, but just as I started to lunge, a siren’s call of fury rose behind me, and I felt my blood explode with hatred.

I couldn’t stop myself as I spun, ignoring the target I’d been focused on. The tip of my blade hit his helmet a glancing blow instead, as I ran at the other brother who had climbed to his feet. His armor glowed a fierce red as I locked eyes with him, screaming my defiance and hatred, and ran forward.

I’d taken three steps, when I felt Oracle in my mind.

“Aegis!” she screamed, and I felt my magic respond. The ability flared and the red mist lifted, just in time to reveal the axe heading for me, with my own shield and naginata splayed out of place.

“Mana Overcharge!” I snarled, and the world seemed to slow suddenly, as though caught in molasses. I glared at the brother before me, Lydia’s incoming scream of rage seeming to doppler into the distance as I read the confidence and bloodlust in my opponent, right until my right foot moved faster than he could see. I twisted at the hips, crouching slightly over my left leg, before pushing off as hard as I could and planting my right foot on his braced left leg. Using the upward momentum, I brought my shield around to deflect his swinging axe. His shield was out of position, due to expecting me to be out of control, and I exploited that to my advantage. Using his own leg as a springboard, I leapt into a combination of a pole vault technique, the ‘Fosbury Flop,’ and my insane Agility to brace my naginata in the armor joint around his neck, releasing my shield and grabbing the other end of the naginata with my left hand as it passed under me.

I pulled with all my strength, and as I flipped over him, landing feet first, back to back with my target, I twisted, ‘popping’ my hips as I’d been taught. With a combination of Judo and insane, overpowered rage and mana-fueled muscle, I flipped the man in full plate armor over my head, sending him crashing head-first into the floor.

I felt, as much as heard, his neck snap as his enormous weight impacted the sandy floor, drowned out by the scream of rage and loss that rose in the air behind me as I staggered and fell, my back absolutely fucked by that insanity.

I grunted as I collapsed forward, legs twitching. I tried not to scream as I frantically fought to roll over, sensing the second brother closing in.

I managed to get my head around in time to see him running past Lydia as she swung her mace low. He’d lashed out high, seeing her as an obstacle and wanting her out of his way, rather than aiming. She deflected it with her shield and swung for the fences, obliterating his knee and sending him crashing to the floor.

“Mother-fucker!” Lydia screamed, dropping her mace and shaking the hand that had held it. Furious, she brought her shield overhead, slamming it down edge-first onto his outstretched right wrist, wrenching a scream from his throat as she shattered the bones. She moved fast, shifting her weight and kicking him in the head, once, twice, and a third time, before curb-stomping down on his neck, where his helmet had ridden up enough to expose it.

I felt the crunch as he died and saw the floating ‘death’s-head’ rise from his corpse. With the second Twin down, I shifted my attention, catching sight of Stephanos drawing back one final time on his Drow bow and sending an arrow flashing across the arena to take the last rogue in the forehead, dropping him to writhe in death.

“I need more mana!” Oracle screamed at me in our mindlink, and I reached down, my wrenched back making my hands spasm as I tried to get the potions out. Before I could try again, Lydia was there, pulling first a Health, and then a Mana potion from the pouch at my waist. I shot her a grateful look as she popped the tops off and poured them into my open mouth.

I felt the Health potion kick in first, nearly drowning me when the pain of rapid healing made me gasp, just as Lydia poured the mana potion into my mouth, but I managed to get most of it down, despite choking slightly.

I watched my mana jump, then immediately start vanishing again, as Oracle worked to heal Grizz. Grabbing Lydia’s hand, I twisted around and grunted in pain as she pulled me upright.

I searched the arena, making sure they were all dead, and limped as quickly as I could to Grizz and the others. Bane was still nowhere to be seen.

I looked down at the Legionnaire, gasping as I saw the damage. His previously handsome face was almost burned away to the bone, and he was moaning through the pain as bubbles of blood burst over where his lips had been.

“Fuck!” I grunted. “Get him to Nerin… NOW!” I grabbed his arm and started to drag him to our rest area door, while Oracle worked to stabilize him.

I nearly passed out from the extra load of trying to haul the massive Legionnaire, but suddenly, the others were there. Bane pushed me aside, lifting Grizz and rushing him from the sand, with Oracle still standing on his chest and channeling ‘Battlefield Triage’ as they went.

I heard the announcer crowing about our victory behind us as we left the arena, but I ignored him. The need to lash out from my feeling of helplessness at my friend’s desperate state made me want to climb up and rip the fucker from his nice, safe spot and beat him to death in front of his patrons.   

The door slammed shut behind us as Nerin and Grizz’s brothers and sisters surrounded him. We were shoved back, out of necessity and fear for their brother, not out of disrespect,