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

Kim held his gaze. “I already thought about charging in, there’s just no way. That hall is too damn long.”

“I’ll hold the lever,” Jacob said. It might have been because he felt he had a second chance to help her now. Kim looked at him for a moment longer then nodded.

Whatever she saw in him convinced her she was as safe as one could be trusting another person with their life in Pyresouls Online.

Dismissing his weapon and shield, Jacob took hold of the lever, pulling it down easily and holding it there.

“Listen for my call,” she said. Her weapons vanished into ash as she lowered the visor on her helm and took up her position like a track runner waiting for the starting gun. Kim was ready to sprint the moment the spikes cleared. She turned toward him, her angular helm hiding the grinning expression he knew she would have. “See you on the other side.”

Once the spikes cleared she took off like a shot, sprinting with all of her effort toward the end of the narrow hall. Even if she trusted him not to let go and kill her, there wasn’t any reason to linger.

A familiar, shrill whistle pierced the air soon after. “You ready, dude?” she shouted back at him. Her speed was impressive to have cleared the hall already.

When Jacob let go of the lever, it kept its position. It was too far between the lever and the hallway to see if Kim was still there but he kept faith that she was.

He wasn’t nearly as fast as Kim was, but he ran as hard as he could. His lungs burned and his legs felt like lead halfway through and he pushed on. The image of the spikes coming out was a constant motivator.

One that became all too real when he heard a shout of surprise up ahead and the clanging of metal on metal followed quickly by the ominous sound of clockwork machinery in the walls.

No, no, no.

The spikes inched out of their holes.

If he wasn’t wearing his armor he might have made it. It would’ve been a smart idea to stuff his armor into his inventory, but hindsight was 20/20. As it was, he could see the end of the hallway and narrow room beyond. A mirror of the one he just left. The spikes would impale him just as he was within spitting distance of freedom.

“Kimberly!” Jacob shouted, hoping she hadn’t betrayed him.

A resounding metal clang echoed through the hall and the spikes stopped for a moment, but only a moment.

Jacob reached forward at the very end of the hallway when the first spike grazed his thigh. He leaped forward, throwing himself as far as he could. The hallway filled with the squeal of the spikes as they scraped against his metal armor.

Halfway through the roll that would have brought him to safety, he felt a searing bolt of pain in his calf. The rest of his body lurched forward out of the hallway, but his calf was speared and held solidly in place. The steadfast hold made his head snap forward into the hard ground, breaking his nose.

He cried out in agony, dazed and with the pain in his leg mounting. Pushing against the stone ground, Jacob stared at the splatter of blood on the stones. Crimson dripped down his nose and onto the floor, spreading the red stain.

One look behind himself and he could see the problem. And the gruesome solution. In his desperate bid to get away from the spikes, he rolled forward but it wasn’t enough. His left leg calf was impaled through the muscle by the last two spikes of the hallway.

Terrible luck, he thought to himself as he summoned his [Longsword].

The solution was simple. Cut himself free. The wound wasn’t mortal, though it would prevent him from walking properly. The pain made him sick but he reminded himself he had been through worse.

Using the sharp edge of his blade, he dove the [Longsword] between the spikes to cleave open the twin wounds in his calf. His scream was long and horrible as the muscle split and blood poured freely from the ruined leg.

Pulling it free of the close-knit spikes hurt worse, the torn chunks of his calf sent dizzying waves of nausea and mind-blacking pain whenever they brushed against a spike.

Finally freed, he wasted no time summoning a [Cinder Ampoule]. He crushed the thin glass container and set the glowing cinder free to do its work.

Jacob watched his dwindling Health freeze then fill up once more. Getting to his feet he tested his newly healed leg. It was too bad there were no [Cinder Ampoules] back on Earth. A lot of good men and women would still be alive if they were.

Looking around the room, he noted several bloodstains retreating into the only path that continued out of the area. Kim was nowhere to be seen.

Jacob took off through the exit, ready for battle. If Kim betrayed him, he would deal with her when he found her. If somebody interfered, they were doing to wish they hadn’t.

The first room was nothing more than a simple storage area full of ceremonial wine barrels, lit with black candles flickering in groups of three and four spread throughout the room.

But no Kimberly.

Three rooms later, running at full speed, Jacob came to the edge of a large room that opened up into a spacious chamber. He immediately threw himself down to the ledge as he caught the glint of an arrow streaking through the air at him.

“Come to save the damsel in distress? How twentieth-century of you!” taunted a deep voice from below. “You wanna take away the girl’s agency by coming to her rescue? Did you even ask for consent to rescue her?”

Jacob belly-crawled as quietly as he could to another area on the ledge. His brief glance had shown a large room below set with runes carved into the floor in a familiar pattern. Several tables were set up in