Shadow Seer (Rogue Merchant Book #3): LitRPG Series by Roman Prokofiev (english reading book TXT) 📗

contract was fulfilled, their duty done. In contrast, Pandorum ships were descending, and the deck of Ragnarok was full of frantic activity.

“How much is left?” the Octopus yelled to Astr, who was carrying the latest bomb.

“Not much. Ten minutes of work, I guess.”

Borland looked around, a little bit nervous at how close Pandorum vessels and dragon riders were to him. I wanted to finish up as soon as possible, too, and go somewhere far away, preferably to a place with cold dark beer and smiling waitresses instead of vicious-looking warriors glaring at me atop their monstrous mounts. Weldy, whom I had sent away with Ellaria, was probably already home, in Eyre.

Suddenly, the deck of the barque shook. I was only able to remain on my feet by grabbing the nearest mast, and the Bells around me chimed as they rolled down the deck. What was going on?

As I glanced toward the Ragnarok, I was blinded by an unexpected flash. Debuffs started blinking furiously, and in a fraction of a second, my health bar was toast. The last thing I noticed was a wave of brilliant light descending from the juggernaut.

The Ragnarok exploded.

* * *

Tao was already far away when he saw it happen. A giant fiery bubble, unbearably bright as it blotted out the sun, eclipsed the juggernaut and the cargo barques docked to it. Its reflection fell on the shocked faces of the surrounding players, while a blast of hot, dry wind struck next. The blooming orb of fire consumed the Ragnarok and grazed the other two Pandorum flagships. Lesser vessels lit up like candles and came crashing to the ground.

The PROJECT’s voice channel and Courier chat burst with messages—mostly explicit exclamations.

“Whoa!” Tentacle gasped. “Fancy that! How many were killed? I hope someone recorded a video!”

Tao didn’t react, focused on watching the results of his work. Svoy hadn’t failed him; he did everything right. Nothing remained of the Ragnarok and Cat’s cargo barques, only a scorched crater left on that spot, while the forest below burned, felled by the explosion. Islands of fire revealed the crash sites of the small ships. One of the juggernauts had survived; its dome was gone, and its sails burned, but it was steadily gaining altitude. The other wasn’t as lucky. Leaving a smoky trail behind it, it rapidly descended like a shot-up airplane. A few seconds later, it fell down, shaking the ground, and broke in two from the collision. Tao automatically shut his eyes, expecting the reactor to detonate, but there was no explosion. The juggernaut froze, smoking and fuming.

“That was brutal! The Pandas will lose their shit,” someone next to him said. “We need to get out.”

Tao couldn’t agree more.

* * *

Slowly, I closed my eyes and opened them again. It was a failure, an epic fail. I was a ghost at the respawn point in the Lower Quarter of Eyre, the Rose Square. The red lines in the combat log told me that I had died by getting a certain amount of damage at once. The space around me was full of other specters—I was clearly far from the only dead player.

It wasn’t possible in Sphere, but in real life, I definitely would have gotten a nervous tic. Why had it exploded? Had someone set me up? After getting the money, I had planned on peacefully parting ways with the Pandas. Win-win: I got the gold, and they got the shield. Everyone would be satisfied. But after something like that, they would never let me alone. I felt as if I was sitting on a powder keg.

Fine, I had one option left. The kill list button flashed in the corner of the interface. I opened it to see the kill rankings and learn who had caused me so much grief. The person who killed the Ragnarok had to be there, whether they had done it intentionally or simply dropped a Bell due to being all thumbs.

But when I saw that line, I felt as if a bucket of ice fell down my shirt. The player who had blown up a juggernaut collectively worth more than twelve million gold was anonymous, just like me.

No clan, a string of question marks instead of a nickname. There was no need to guess: he had a diamond subscription like my own. So what was the conclusion? It was a setup and a calculated one. For Pandas, I was a scammer, having taken their money and still blowing up the ship while killing a lot of their own. What a nasty situation.

In the meantime, the players kept respawning. Most of them were red-karma Pandas, and groups of city guards immediately poured into the Rose Square. A scuffle broke out around the respawn circle, quickly turning into a real battle. Pandorum players were trying to summon their birdies and fly away, while the guards and local players took them down, making use of their momentary confusion. It was hell. I decided against becoming corporeal and used a Soul Stone to escape.

Upon logging out in my inn room, I collapsed on the bed. The tension of the last several hours had taken its toll. My head was throbbing. Jerkhan was raging in my personal messages. Once again, I got added to the Pandorum Council Chat. I tried to explain myself, but they didn’t want to hear me. When I got fed up with reading their cursing, I activated the language pack to write a message.

HotCat: Sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.

 

Phantom: A whirlwind? Today you’ve pissed against it!

 

My only consolation was the seven-figure number in my account. Still, I had to act quickly. That long, long day was yet to be over.

The streets of Eyre were in turmoil. The local respawn point was the closest to Ragnarok’s crash site, and all the dead Pandas were respawning there. Most likely, they