The Fourth Secret: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Divine Apostasy Book 4) by A. Kay (best fiction novels of all time .txt) 📗

Shing!

You have advanced a skill!

Skill: Stonemason

Level: 57

Effect: Increase construction and repair speed by 114%. Increase durability by 57%.

Ruwen closed the notification and channeled one Energy per second into Climb, slowly moving up the rope. If saving the universe didn’t work out, he had a future as a stonemason.

Yana pulled him onto the battlement, her face serious. “You surprised me, Overlord, and that doesn’t happen often.”

Ruwen nodded. He’d surprised himself.

“You’ve set an excellent example. Eiru was wise in her choice of messenger.”

Ruwen winced at the memory of crushing the Elders with his Architect Role. He’d lied to them about that, and it felt uncomfortable to get praised for lying. “Thank you, Yana. Today we’ll know for sure. Is the enemy close?”

Yana nodded. “They marched through the night again. They won’t arrive until this afternoon, but from the way they’ve distributed their forward troops, the city isn’t their destination.”

Chapter 67

People filled the temple hallways, all in a hurry to get somewhere, and it slowed Ruwen’s progress to the makeshift war room. He focused on Hamma and used Chat. Are you there yet?

Yes, it’s just me and the Elders.

Where’s your dad?

He’s helping with the revivals, but says he’s done assisting Uru with her plans after what she did to him. Honestly, I kind of feel the same way. I’m only here because of you.

Thank you. I really appreciate that. Do you want to talk about it?

Not right now.

Niall and Hamma felt betrayed by what Uru had done, and Ruwen sympathized with them both. It must hurt even worse because as Priest and Priestess, they had a closer relationship with Uru. He didn’t know Uru well, but she didn’t seem the type to do something like this without a good reason.

But Ruwen feared that reason was the same end of the world talk she’d given him. And if she would subvert the free will of one of her faithful Priests, she would likely cross any line if necessary. He needed to remember that. It always circled back to the same argument with the powerful: the destination justified the path.

That made Ruwen think of his parents, and the path they’d chosen. His parents and Tremine were with Bliz at his now nearly completed bar, Pour Judgement. They were recovering there from their trip to fetch the terium. Terium they’d had to kill to acquire.

Ruwen shook the dark thoughts from his mind as he entered the war room. Sitting down next to Hamma, he removed his Overseer’s Cowl of Revelation and glanced around the room. The six Elders all looked tired. The pace of rebuilding and defending the city had taken a toll on everyone.

It took Ruwen a moment to find the red balloons and the Observer Elder they floated above. “Drivyd, what is the latest?”

Drivyd sat up straight. “Vachyl can detail the skirmishes we’re fighting, but our Scouts found an area where their advance forces refuse to retreat, even with heavy casualties. But the logic of the location makes no sense.”

“Why?” Ruwen asked.

Vachyl spoke up. “There is no high ground. In fact, they seem headed for a large shallow depression ten miles from here.”

With all Ruwen’s recent exposure to Naktos and his minions, he knew exactly what they probably had in mind. “They plan to fill the depression with gas. Something heavier than air, and unbreathable by us.”

Talking like this reminded Ruwen of his strategy discussions with Rami while training in the Spirit Realm. She’d produced an endless number of historical wars as examples, and he’d enjoyed the game aspect of extrapolating what had happened. He’d become very good at it.

Vachyl frowned and Drivyd tapped his chin.

Elder Gabryel leaned forward. “Then why attack them? Leave them in their trap as we continue to revive our people.”

Ruwen nodded at the Priestess. “That is a sound option. But the temple is full, and the city isn’t far behind. Once they know our true numbers, even our current ones, they will abandon this trap and send for more troops. I doubt we can hide our actual numbers from their Scouts much longer.”

“So you want to attack them?” Elder Odalys asked.

Ruwen turned to the Mage. “That is one possibility. But traveling ten miles gives them time to prepare and adjust. They would likely shift out of the depression and up to one of the rims, making it a more difficult fight for us.”

Elder Vachyl raised his hands. “If you don’t want to attack and you don’t want to wait, what is your strategy?”

Ruwen pinched his chin. “We trigger the trap.”

All the Elders and even Hamma stared at Ruwen.

Elder Yana laughed. “I think hanging from the battlements all night has rattled your brain, but I’ll bite. Why trigger it?”

“Because doing so will commit the enemy to their plan,” Ruwen said.

Elder Zahara crossed her arms, and Ruwen kept his eyes on her face. The beautiful Merchant wielded her looks like a weapon. “You just told us the trap would make the air unbreathable. You make no sense.”

“If this was my plan,” Ruwen said. “I’d send the bulk of my force to the city. Those who remained behind would prepare the trap.” Ruwen raised his left arm. “You’d only need a handful of strategically placed Void Bands to rapidly replace the air in that basin. I would attack the city, and if I took it, great. But if I met any significant resistance, I’d rapidly retreat.”

Vachyl nodded. “To draw us out.”

“Exactly,” Ruwen said. “A fleeing enemy is nearly irresistible. We will play along and chase them to their basin, where they will spring the trap.” Ruwen faced Elder Yana. “I’ll need all the Bands we have. We will distribute them evenly among our troops.”

“You’re going to suck the gas away,” Elder Yana said in understanding.

Ruwen nodded. “With enough Bands there, we wouldn’t even need to remove all the gas. Simply pulling air into the Void Bands will create a low pressure and air will flow into the basin, creating turbulence. We’ll search the Temple