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

have in the middle of the creepy fucking dungeon in the sky?”  I interrupted, waving generally at them and getting a shocked look from Augustus.

“Your hand!” he gasped, and I shrugged.

“Oh, yeah… lost it about ten minutes ago. Not my finest hour, so… moving on….”

“You set my children’s lost souls free,” Hellenica corrected me softly, and I closed my eyes, counting to five and praying for patience.

“Okay…” I tried again. “Let’s get the injured up here, please. Get as many healed and ready as we can, and then let’s go fuck up the Skyking…”

“Of course, Jax,” Augustus saluted and began barking commands, as Hellenica ordered her Djinn to set up a series of shields around us. Tang and Yen set off running for the stairs to gather the others, while three of the Djinn that were especially skilled at healing went with them. With the next steps set in motion, I took the time to investigate the floor we were on.

One room was filled with golden statues and sealed chests. It had clearly been locked, but Rinko took care of that for me with his door-battering skill, and we quickly gathered as much gold as we could find, piling the few magical items and other valuables into our various Bags of Holding. By the time the others had reached us, we’d managed to strip the floor of everything that appeared be valuable, and I’d even managed to grab a bite to eat in the kitchen.

Having considered the nature of those that called this tower home, though, I left the meat alone. Just in case.

I was also getting some good-natured ribbing from Grizz as I chewed on a banana. I maintained the age-old rule of not making eye contact with anyone while eating one, despite Oracle’s thoughtful expression.

Five minutes later, we were assembled close to the bottom of the wide staircase that led up to what we hoped was the final area of the Skyking’s lair. We were tired, all of us were injured, to one degree or another, and we were low on mana, health, and stamina, despite knowing the night was only halfway through. Hellenica used an AOE healing spell on the group, lifting us all slightly and giving us a boost to our regeneration. I desperately wished I’d had enough mana to buff everyone, but by the time I could manage a few of my crew, Oracle and I would have nothing left.

I just hoped the Golems had gotten the orders I’d given them.

“Nerin, you’re staying here with the wounded…” I started to say, when I realized how few fighters that would leave me with. Protests clashed as the entire group started to complain.

The only person that wasn’t injured to the point of needing a hospital visit, at least on Earth, was Augustus. I’d even lost my frigging hand, after all.

“Ah, fuck it,” I gave in, shrugging and turning to the stairs that spiraled up into the blackness.  “Let’s go kill us a Skyking.” I led my people upwards, the Djinn and their mother shepherding us as we climbed.

Chapter Thirty-One

We wasted no time in climbing up the stairs to the final level. The steps were wide and made of stone, but the high ceiling and debris that lay strewn in the corners—feathers, fluff, dust, and bits of random detritus—made it clear that the usual method of ascending this area wasn’t walking.

The stairwell creaked and shook, the path up the center clearly polished by inhuman footprints, judging from the claw scratches. Upon reaching the first flight, the stairs split, flowing back on themselves to either side and leading up the main floor.

We climbed slowly, searching the area for traps, hidden monsters, and pretty much everything that there could be, but besides a particularly large spider that appeared Australian, and therefore venomous, there was nothing. Thankfully, the arachnid just watched us and didn’t respond when Lydia asked it a question, so we decided it was just a normal big damn spider.

We continued on, emerging onto the final floor to discover that it was dark. All of the windows in the long, open space had been covered. At the far end, and every few meters along the sides, braziers had been lit. They blazed, giving off a sweet smoky scent and filling the air with a ridiculous amount of heat. I suddenly realized I’d been feeling the temperature rise as we climbed the tower, but I’d ignored on the grounds of my exertions.

Now it was oppressive, the ceiling had been draped with long flowing red and black silken banners that fell to the walls, creating an almost tent-like atmosphere. At the far end, dozens of braziers had been clustered around a huge shallow bowl carved into the floor, which had been piled with wooden logs that blazed merrily, the air around it shimmering with heat.

I could barely make out a bulky form laid on a huge bed behind the flames. The space behind the fires remained shrouded in darkness and warped by the heatwaves that rose steadily, wreathed in smoke. The mass was huge, easily fifteen feet across, but it looked weird, as the body seemed to be covered in a writhing mass of snakes from this distance. A dozen smaller figures stepped out of the shadows on either side of it, moving to block our advance.

We were confronted by three Greater Imps; the rest were Prometheans, save one hooded figure that seemed to be a human, from this distance, anyway.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT HERE…?” came the cold voice from the pillow strewn bed. “GOLD? GEMS? WHY DO YOU TRESPASS AND ATTACK MY MINIONS? WHO SENT YOU?!”

“They came to free ME!” Hellenica cried out, flowing up to stand alongside me. She hovered to my left, Lydia and Jian to my right, with Grizz, Stephanos, and Miren bristling behind us. Augustus stepped up to flank Hellenica, with his Legionnaires spreading out around us. Bane, Tang, and strangely Nigret were missing, presumably stealthed, and Mistress Nerin was hanging back, looking wan