Tiamat's Revenge: A LITrpg Harem Adventure! (Blackest Night Book 1) Read online

  “Silence, just like the rest of your people, Skylonian. They can’t speak, either.”

  I was about to jump up and charge the man, but the samurai who was holding me wouldn’t let me get back to my feet. Kira once again put a finger up to her mouth and pinned my arms behind my back. I was very much irritated at her, but I kept quiet knowing we were in a bad spot.

  Victor, his tarnished bronze armor looking like fire as the sun began to set over the horizon, loomed over Rex. “Rumor has it a boy lives with you. Tell me, is he the lost prince that the Court Mage holds over my king’s head.”

  Again, no words came from Rex, just spit at Victor’s shoes. One of the guards with Victor punched Rex in the temple, knocking him out. Victor sighed and signaled for Rex to be lifted up. “Come, we will take the dog back with us, along with the sword. If there is a prince, he won’t be that hard to deal with, alone.”

  The other two guards lifted Rex up and they followed Victor away from the cottage. When the three of them were a few paces away, Victor turned around and unleashed a spell: Firaga

  Our cottage went up in a blaze, leaving me alone and homeless.

  ****

  “Why did you hold me down?” I was livid. “I could’ve helped Rex!”

  Kira didn’t seem all that surprised by my outburst. “General Victor would’ve killed you before you even announced who you were,” she said plainly.

  That may have been true, but at least I deserved a chance. “They took my friend, the only person who’s been there for me all these years.”

  “Since Tiamat destroyed Skylonus, no?”

  I figured the cat was out of the bag when she heard what Victor said to Rex. “Yes,” I admitted. “I’m not a soldier of fortune, I am Prince Dante of Skylonus.”

  Kira didn’t say much, but she also didn’t have to. “I’m sure you have much more of a story to tell, but we should hold off on that until we get back to my master, Yamato. The Gibraltarians might be trying to find you as we speak.”

  Night had fallen, which gave us somewhat of an advantage if any scouts were out here looking. “Where do we need to go to find your master?”

  She pointed south, the way the river flowed. “We are camped along the river bed.”

  Picking ourselves up, we started to walk that way, only to hear rustling in the woods. Two soldiers were coming this way. Kira looked over to me and I pulled out my sword. “I have a lot of aggression right now.”

  She took a fighting stance. “Nagano still recognizes Skylonus as a kingdom. I will follow you, Prince Dante.”

  The two soldiers engaged us the moment they broke through the trees. I wasted no time attacking first: Sweeping strike

  The black clad warrior fell to the ground. Kira saw an opportunity and took it: Ninja knee drop

  The moment her knee connected with the soldier, she gained a fifteen percent boost in striking a downed opponent. The first soldier was almost dead when we finished our attacks. Each of them had their chance and both used: Single slash

  They weren’t smart and attacked the same target. My defense was a bit higher than Kira’s, but her health gauge was longer. Neither attack really put a cramp in our style, so we kept on going. The second round saw me finish off the first soldier with: Rapid strike

  Kira immediately went after the second soldier with: Shuriken toss

  Seeing his chances of victory slim, the second soldier decided to retreat instead of continuing the fight. But like a true badass, Kira wouldn’t stand for cowardice. As the man turned to flee, Kira countered with: Cowardice blow

  Another star like projectile was tossed and it hit the man square in the back. With him being so exposed, the attack was an instant kill. Both of us gained a bunch of experience points, nearly leveling up again. I also found a new chest plate.

  ::Equipped Knight’s Armor – Defense Up::

  “Good battle!” Kira said as it finished.

  It wasn’t saving Uncle Rex, but taking down the two soldiers made me feel a bit better. “Each and every one of them will pay until Rex is freed.”

  The moon was over the trees by now. “Why do we not rest for an hour before we make the journey to Yamato? We don’t know what others dangers may be waiting us.”

  My newest companion had a good point. Together we set down on the cool ground and spread out. “You need to be careful,” I told her. “One wrong move and you could give yourself away to the Gibraltar army.”

  “You’re sweet to worry, but Nagano Samurais are the best in the world. None who encounter me will live to tell their superiors, or I’ll die trying,” she said simply.

  What a way to live, I thought. “So, tell me a little about yourself? You already know my deep, dark secret.”

  “I’m just a guardian for Master Yamato; he is the truly great one in all of this. Hopefully, through his wisdom, we can attain peace. Or, at the very least, convince Gibraltar that their foolish use of summons are going to be the end of all of us.”

  The only summon I knew about was Tiamat. “Just how many summoned creatures are there? I’ve only heard Rex speak about them sparingly.”

  She cleared her throat. “Eleven in all. There’s Bahamut, Tiamat, Ifrit, Eden, Shiva, Balthazar, Alexander, Wyrm, Scorpius, Odin, and Typhon. Each represents either an elemental energy or calamity.”

  None of that sounded all that great, especially the word calamity. “I obviously know firsthand that they can use Tiamat. What about the others? Is there a way to prevent them?”

  “That is a question for Master Yamato. My basic knowledge of the subject ends with their names and what they are associated with.”

  As we rested, I listened carefully as Kira did explain what they represented. Some were pretty basic; Ifrit was a fire elemental, Shiva was an ice elemental and so forth. Others were a bit more complex. Alexander, for instance. He was not only associated with the holy light of the heavens, but he was also known as the defender. Legend had it that he disagreed with the use of he and his fellows to be used as weapons of destruction. He sacrificed his power to make sure only the pure could use it. Kira went on, detailing that’s why only certain summons had previously been used, according to recorded history.

  It was a lot to take in. “I appreciate gaining that knowledge,” I told her. “Smart and beautiful; a deadly combination.”

  Her face went very red. “You think I’m beautiful?”

  “A blind man could see the beauty you possess.”

  “No man has ever complimented me in such a way.” She turned away. “In the Nagano Nation, a female warrior is seen as a weapon, not an object of lust or desire.”

  That was a travesty. I scooted closer to her, placing my hand on the back of her head. “Then they are fools with bad taste.” I leaned in and we kissed, for just a second. Kira broke away quickly. “Did I do something wrong?” I asked.

  “No,” she answered, quietly. “I… I don’t know.”

  I didn’t want to push it further. “I think we’ve rested enough. Shall we continue on?”

  She jumped up at my suggestion. “Good idea.”

  ****

  About halfway down the river, towards this Yamato fellow, we heard a noise. I was ready to draw my sword when a short, stout man popped out of the trees. “No need for weapons, young sire, just a friendly merchant making his way through the Wildlands.”

  “Gregory!” Kira shouted a bit too loud. “It has been too long.”

  “Miss Kira, good to see you again. Were those phoenix downs helpful on your last mission?”

  “They were.” I had no idea what was going on. “Dante,” Kira addressed me. “This is Gregory, the traveling merchant. If you need it, he has it.”

  “For the right price,” the little man added.

  I did have some gold, not a lot, but some. “I guess we could use a few health potions and other supplies.”

  Gregory opened up his tablet and a list of his wears appeared on the screen. Not wanting to spend too much, I added three potions and
two phoenix downs to the list. For three hundred gold pieces, this wasn’t a bad grab.

  When the transaction was complete, he handed me a charm on a rope. “Wear that at all times,” he instructed. I placed it around my neck. “When you defeat enemies, their life force will be transferred into gold. You’ll be able to buy a lot more next time!”

  “Hey thanks!” This was a pretty cool trinket.

  “And it looks like you’re about to see it in action. Got to go!” The little merchant ducked right back into the trees, just as a few more Gibraltarian soldiers appeared.

  These three were armed with lances, not swords. “Freeze you two!”

  I had no intention of freezing to these morons. “How about we just skip to the part where we do battle, okay?”

  Just like that the battle began. Oh crap! These three boobs were able to get the party started with a three-way chain attack: Cerberus lance

  All three charged me, piercing me with the tips of their lance right off the get-go. I survived, but barely. My red health bar was flashing. I was under ten percent.

  “Dante, you’ve entered Despair mode,” Kira hollered over.

  I’d never heard of that before. “What does that mean?”

  “As long as your health in under ten percent, all of your attacks will be critical and your speed increases fifty percent. And look,” she pointed down. “Your spirit gauge is full.”

  Instinct told me to save the spirit gauge for now, but the Despair mode was something I could get on board with. My speed was already much faster than my heavily armored foes. I was a gambler – I bet I could get off a few hits before I needed to heal myself.

  Double slash

  Rapid strike

  Single slash

  Three attacks executed before even Kira had a go. Two soldiers were dead and the third was under fifty percent health. Kira attacked him, too: Samurai strike

  Crap! It didn’t kill the soldier. I knew what was coming next. With the target on me: Lance thrust

  As soon as the attack hit, I fell to the ground, unconscious…

  …Only to wake up after the battle. “Sorry, Dante. I should have healed you.”

  Damnit. I missed out on the experience points and the loot. “At least you killed him,” I told her. My ribs hurt a bit, but my pride hurt even worse. “It was my own fault for playing with fire like that.”

  “On the bright side, I’m up to level six.”

  Wow! She jumped up three levels. “I wonder if we can find another group of those soldiers. It wouldn’t hurt to get up to eight or nine before we move on.”

  “I’m sure we can. We’ll just need to fight smart.”

  And that’s what we did. It turned out the charm Gregory gave me worked, really well. After three battles, we both were at level seven and had over three thousand gold pieces. Gregory was still lurking around, so we restocked on potions and went back at it. Four more rounds of level grinding put me at level nine and Kira at level eight.

  Not only did we level up, but our attacks and skills changed. At level nine, I’d gained: Quick strike, Fast reflexes, Berserk, and a magical skill, too: Wind blade. Kira had a few new moves: Uppercut, Horizontal blades, Sweep kick, and Moving target. I was pretty sure we were ready to move on.

  As we approached the river bank once more, off in the distance was another recharge point. “I knew there was a reason to keep the spirit gauges ready. Looks like we have a boss fight, Kira.”

  “What do you think? River monster, Gibraltarian knight; the list could go on.”

  There was only one way to find out. We kept walking, stopping to take advantage of the recharge station and then onwards towards the boss’s lair. The water in the river was beginning to churn, rapids forming where once calm water rested. That wasn’t a good sign.

  Closer to the bank was a mage, a rather hot one at that! I was really digging the leather boots she was sporting, as well as the tight mage armor she had on. It really accented her curves, which were freaking amazing. There was no way I wasn’t going to do anything to help this hottie.

  The flaming red hair of the woman was whipping in the wind. She was readying an attack at something, but I didn’t see any targets. That’s when a monstrous tentacle shot out of the water and crashed down towards the bank where the mage was preparing her spell. She had to abort the plan and dive away. Kira and I ran over to her.

  “Are you hurt?” I called out.

  Kira threw over a health potion and the mage quickly drank it. “Thanks,” she said. “I’m not sure how a sea kraken made it this far, but something foul is afoot.”

  Sure enough, the rest of the kraken shot out of the water. Unlike the river kraken Kira and I first slayed, this one was quite large and powerful. Looking at us, it swooped its tentacle through the water, sending a giant wave attack in our direction. I grabbed the mage and we dashed out of the way. Good way to initiate a battle, kraken.

  ::Black mage joined the party::

  The black mage was at a higher level than either Kira or I. A quick glimpse revealed she was at fifteen and she got the party started: Fira

  Of course! The water elemental, kraken, would be super weak to fire spells. It reacted poorly to the flames to the face, but its huge health bar barely took a hit. That wasn’t a good sign. Oh well, I was up. I went for one of my new tricks: Quick strike

  The rapid-fire thrusts of my sword annoyed him more than it did any real damage. Even with a final critical hit, the kraken wasn’t any worse for wear. Kira finished our round of attacks with: Sweep kick

  I was ready for the kraken to do its worst when it did something completely unexpected: Gaining strength

  Our new friend swore under her breath. “I’ve heard of this. Sea krakens will gather their strength over three turns and then unleash a devastating wave attack. We either need to beef up our defenses or go all out!”

  “Kira, what do you think?”

  She looked over at the kraken before answering. “Defense, definitely.”

  Over the next two turns, we did just that. I used Fast reflexes on the girls, Kira tried out her new skill, Quick step, on herself, and the mage cast a party covering spell, Protect. As the kraken jumped in line to the front, we all hoped it would be enough. The beast let out a roar: Tsunami

  It felt like the entire river was pulled out of the bed and thrown down on top of us. There was no possible way that we’d be saved from decimation. Except we were. A combination of Quick step and Fast reflexes ensured Kira was spared from any damages, as the worst missed her. The mage and I, the Protect spell absorbed a lot, but we were still well under fifty perfect health. That didn’t matter, we were still in the game.

  “All our spirit gauges are full,” Kira pointed out.

  They sure were. A new option came up – Team attack. “Dare we try it?” I asked both of them.

  With three smiles, we agreed. The moment the Team attack was engaged, we all understood just how awesome it was going to be: Bahamut’s fury

  The mage summoned a massive fireball over her head. Kira jumped over and kicked it high up in the air, where I followed and used my new-found wind elemental powers. Slashing downwards with my sword, the wind turned the fireball into a tempest as it crushed the kraken. We all had to shield our eyes from the huge blast.

  The kraken somehow survived, but was beyond critical. He slouched down against the riverbank, ready to be put out of his misery. Unlike when I went into Despair mode, this battle looked to be all but over, the monster had entered a daze.

  The mage still had her turn to complete: Fira

  With one last fire spell, the kraken died and its corpse fell back into the churning water. The moment the last tentacle sank below the water’s surface, the river returned to its normal, calm pace. And a treasure chest appeared on the bank.

  “I wonder what that could be?” I asked.

  Both Kira and the mage urged me forward. When I got there, the box popped open, revealing its contents. “Whoa…”

 
I reached in a pulled out a sparkling blue sword. The blade almost looked like the river and the hilt was shaped like the kraken’s tentacle.

  ::Equipped Kraken’s Wrath – Plus 2 Strength, Water Damage::

  I was in shock and awe of the damage output rating this blade had. It made my old iron sword look like a stick. With this new blade, I felt incredible. Also, not to mention, that Kira and I both jumped two more levels to eleven and ten, respectively.

  ::Mage has left the party::

  “You’re not staying with us?” I asked. I didn’t know why I did, I didn’t even know her. I was chalking that question up to both how powerful she was and ridiculously good looking.

  She gave me a sexy simper. “Not today, fellow mercenary. I do thank you for your help and hope our paths will cross again one day soon.”

  “I’m Dante, by the way. And this is Kira.”

  My samurai companion didn’t seem to have the enthusiasm for our ally that I did. She just stuck out a wet noodle for a hand which the mage didn’t even bother shaking. Instead, she looked at me one more time. “A pleasure, Dante. I won’t forget that.”

  She was about to leave, when it looked like she’d forgot something. She sauntered over to me, with those fantastic hips swaying in the air. She leaned over, close to my ear, “Zara.”

  I felt my face begin to burn up. I didn’t even give her a proper goodbye after that one. I could’ve used a smoke or something, all from her name! As she disappeared into the early morning mist that was forming, Kira seemed glad she was gone.

  She came over and placed a hand on my forehead. “Are you okay? You’re pale and clammy.”

  That I was… That I was. “We should probably move on. Master Yamato should be close, right?”

  “Right,” she answered, still not sure of my wellness.

  **Cut Scene**

  Gibraltar Castle

  “Captain Alyssa! Attention now!”

  My hand snapped up as General Victory entered the barracks. I’d just finished training my platoon and was preparing to shower. I hadn’t quite made it that far, yet.