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

about. I went on the offensive, all-out. I lashed the heel of my weapon down hard, smashing it into his sword blade and knocking it aside. Spinning around and loosening my grip with my right hand, I used it solely to control my aim as my left hand provided the power. I pushed the haft forward through my loose grip, then yanked it back. As I cleared the edge of his shield at the top left, the blade punched deeply into one unarmored shoulder. A twist and yank back opened the wound wider, and I stabbed forward again, going for the right thigh, just below the stupid-looking kilt he wore. The blade sank into the thick muscle of his leg, severing entire bands of it, before I pulled back and went for his face.

The pained look of shock broke from the berserker fury he’d been reveling in before, and then disintegrated into fear as the tip of my blade cut a neat flap from under his right eye. He somehow managed to shake himself into action and flew backwards, and I dropped down low.

His attempt at a counter strike flashed over my head, and with his shield arm useless, he was left exposed. I shoved my naginata forward with all my force, the tip punching up through his sternum and into the space where his heart would have been in a human. I didn’t know if that was enough to kill him on its own, but the additional damage added by imbuing my weapon with Fire probably helped, as the tip erupted from his back, emerging between his wings.

I yanked it back out, rising smoothly to my feet as he sagged down to his knees. I Sparta-kicked him in the face, sending him sliding across the floor in a heap of feathers and blood.

As I straightened back up, I looked at the remaining few Harpies in the room and shouted over the noise.

“Surrender or die!”

There was a lull in the fighting for a second as everyone paused, and an Alkyon on the other side pointed at me and shouted, “Kill him!”

Then he screamed as four daggers punched through him in different places from behind. The blades were rapidly yanked sideways, eviscerating him and leaving behind a screeching, dying lump on the floor.

“Anyone else?” Bane asked, spinning his blades and sending blood flying.

There was no hesitation this time, as weapons were dropped by those too close to escape. Those further back on the roof beat their wings frantically, lifting into the air as Miren, Stephanos, and Arrin took them down. Only three made it out of range in time.

Chapter Seven

“Get their weapons and make sure they’re no threat,” I growled to Barrett as I turned to look them over. I couldn’t see anyone who’d tried to give any orders now. They’d all died fast, so I called outside instead.

“Venta!” A few seconds later, she landed in the alleyway, bloody and injured, with blood dripping from both her daggers and her taloned feet. Amaat landed behind her a second later and stomped in after her. Clear pride showed in the way he moved, shaking blood from his feathers and weapons.

“Yes, my lord?” Venta asked me, and I acknowledged her salute with a nod of my own.

“Who’s the most likely to know about the others here? Whether my people made it or were captured?” I clarified, realizing she’d never actually met Lydia, Yen, and Ellen.

I turned and looked over to the corner where the smugglers had been hiding, noting that they both had claimed shortswords from somewhere. They were bloody as well, but both nodded in respect to me.

“Oracle, heal them as well please.” I said, nodding to them in return. I’d totally forgotten about them in the chaos, and I felt a little guilty as I realized it.

“I will, if you ever get around to drinking that mana potion,” she said to me, and I grimaced. I only had the one left, and it was one of the insanely powerful ones we’d looted from the Drider. I couldn’t waste that when a little meditation would be fine instead.

“Bane, Barrett,” I called, and they both appeared, heading over to me. Barrett walked with a limp, and Bane had three long thin cuts across one shoulder, but they were otherwise okay. “I need you to question these dicks and see if you can find any potions or useful gear.  If you do, spread them out to those who need them. We can’t stay here much longer, not after that fight, so you’ve got five minutes to do what you need to. I’m going to meditate to get some mana back; interrupt me if you find any mana potions.” They both nodded, and I turned, making my way over to a corner that was mostly clear of corpses and blood. Sighing wearily, I sat down and closed my eyes.

When the five minutes was up, Oracle landed on my shoulder and whispered in my ear that it was time. I opened my eyes, scanning around the room. I stood slowly, my notifications pulsing like crazy again, and I ignored them, as usual.

There were dozens of bodies stacked on the far side of the room, with eleven prisoners crouched in a line by the wall next to the corpses, looking terrified.

Bane was walking slowly toward me, wiping blood off his dagger. A reasonable pile of gear had been stacked in the middle of the room. Scattered throughout the heap were over a dozen healing potions, food, and a load of small coin purses, as well as a couple of bows, some short swords, and a few bits of armor. Of particular interest to me were the sword and shield, along with the necklace, from the Promethean I’d fought.

Lastly, there were two dull blue mana potions, and I looked at Oracle questioningly.

“I told them not to interrupt you for that,” she said. “They’re barely better than water, and we managed to heal everyone with the use