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

there, though, was instantly Jian, who set a steaming bowl of water down next to me.

“Thank you, Jian!” I said, sighing as I stripped off my gauntlets and dipped my bloody hands in to wash the gore off.

The others were drinking water and talking tiredly as the Legionnaires celebrated, drinking in the sight and the faintly echoing cheers of praise for the legion.

The door clanged open a few minutes later, and Mal strode in, his carefree persona gone. He’d dressed in armor, with his crossbows supplemented by a long-handled axe held casually in his right hand.

“Well done, son. Was gettin' a bit worried at the end there…” He grinned at me as Soween and Gaion and a handful of others squeezed into the room, a couple taking up station on the other side of the door to make sure we weren’t disturbed.

“What happened up there?” I asked him shortly.

“Fuckin' Anubai…” he snapped, spitting on the floor. “Not seen those bastards in years, and I wouldn’t have let 'em into the arena willingly. One of 'em had some kinda disguise spell active, a powerful one, and the Mage who oversaw the contracts for the arena’s just been found. He was gutted and hung like a side of beef in his quarters… that’s how tonight got so fucked up.”

“So, I could have had Augustus out there? Or half the Legion?” I asked, and he nodded grimly.

“Luckily, you didn’t need the help, and after tonight, well, it’s not like they wouldn’t have been gettin' punished anyway.” He shrugged.

“Yeah… still pissed, though,” I muttered.

“Don’t blame you, but it is what it is. You ready for the real fun to begin?” he asked, and I grunted, looking at the bloody water before me.

“Depends; have I got time for a bath? A change of clothes?” I countered. The feeling of wet, bloody clothing made me desperately want to be rid of them.

“Nope. We need to be movin' already. We’ve saved some time, with those assholes forcing the fight through early, so the majority of the night’s festivities are just beginnin' now, meanin' we’ve got a chance to get into place even earlier.”

“Well, that’s just fucking peachy,” I grumbled.

“I’ve also come up with a plan for the Star’s Glory, if you really don’t like the current ownership?” Mal asked, and I nodded for him to go on. “Well, I was thinkin’, perhaps your little friend Horkesh would like to take that ship? She and her… people… can capture it, keep the crew aboard and give 'em orders to follow along? There were only a couple of guards on it, I heard. The real trouble would be crewin' it, but as they’re all slavers already, you could give 'em a prison sentence instead of death and make 'em crew for you? I don’t know about you, but if she came out of the night with the rest of her guards all over the ship, and ordered me to fly with a load of ships that were takin' off, I’d do it…”

“You’re evil,” I said, grinning at him and thinking about the nasty surprise that Bateman, the captain of the Star, was going to get.

“I know,” he said with a smile as he picked at his nails with a knife.

“Horkesh?” I called, and she skittered across the ceiling to hang above me. “I want you to take your people with Mal. He’ll explain what I need you to do, and where to take the ship, okay?”

“Yes, Lord Jax,” she chittered, bouncing gently, which made Mal shudder visibly.

“You got those Imps like I asked?” I suppressed a smile at his discomfort.

“They’re outside, chained together,” he said. “You sure you wanna do this?”

“You think of a better way to take out the ships that are already in the air?” I asked, and he shrugged.

“Then it looks like we’re going ahead with it. How we doing with our winnings?”

“Not bad, actually, especially with this…” He pulled out a small crystal and tossed it to me. I caught it and held it close to examine it, noting the grey mist that roiled and twisted within.

“This the Lich?” I asked, and he nodded.

“We’ve got as much gold, manastones, and platinum as I think we’re goin’ to, realistically. The South Side Gang’s leadership is dead after their little stunt, and the Lich is contained in this. It's worthless now, beyond a source of Experience.”

“Good point. Who’s the lowest level here?” I asked, and after a few seconds, Jian lifted his hand in shame. “You won’t be for long, then.” I threw the crystal to him. He caught it and looked at it, frowning.

“Smash it,” Oracle said, and he frowned at her sharply before looking to me.

“You lost out on the experience because you didn’t fight, but you’re going to earn that ten times over tonight, Jian, believe me. Smash it and level up.”

He obeyed enthusiastically, setting it on the floor and stomping down as hard as he could. The first time, there was a cracking noise and a very faint scream of rage, followed quickly by two heavier stomps. With the third impact, the phylactery exploded, sending Jian staggering, then gasping, his eyes going wide.

I realized my notifications were blinking, and I spoke up quickly.

“Okay everyone, gear up, check your notifications, and make any changes you need, because we’re leaving in a few minutes.”

“I’ve got your winnings and gear in here; thought it just made more sense to hand it over now,” Mal said, passing me two heavy satchels. I nodded to him in thanks, not taking the time to check them. I pulled open the Bag of Spatial Folding and paused, just about to drop them inside.

“Can you store bags of holding inside bags of holding?” I asked, a sudden horrible thought occurring to me.

“Hmmm?” Mal asked, frowning. “Oh, yeah, as long as the bag that’s holdin' the others has the space and is a higher grade. Depending on the bags that go in, it can be a problem. Those are both crap bags,