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

Are you sure you want to upgrade Fiery Lightning to Flaming Bolide? Warning! This action cannot be reversed. Yes/No

Flaming Bolide is a blast of True Fire capable of destroying even large targets with high defense. It deals 10,000-30,000 True Fire damage. 6 charges/24 hours

It fit the bill. Time to take it for a spin! A blazing blob of True Fire broke free from the blade and flew toward the round tower while its crenels glowed with light as the defenders prepared another volley. The Bolide, orange and blue, thrust into the spot between the forked merlons, hitting its mark.

Thud! The tower exploded from within, turning into a swirling cloud of fire and smoke. The stretched chain burst with a clanging sound, freeing our vessel.

The second bead of True Fire set the pursuing corvette ablaze from its keel to the banners on its masts. Now that was some power! Many voices cried out at once, and I saw dozens of burning silhouettes on birdies leave the ship, fleeing for their lives. Blinking icons with kill messages flashed in the tray bar.

I continued firing at the stubborn Pandas. The third Bolide aimed at a large group of dragon riders went south. Still, it did make a difference, as the Pandorum warriors hastily retreated, splitting up and turning their flying mounts around. So they did notice that shit hit the fan!

“Hold on!” Keith yelled, desperately spinning the wheel. “It’s going to shake now!”

Our nameless skiff was picking up momentum. The Octopus abruptly turned right and immediately swerved, sharply enough that we would have rolled down the deck if I hadn’t grabbed onto a mast and Weldy onto me. The smoke from fireballs loomed above—the Pandas weren’t about to give up. After a moment of confusion, they started firing at us at full force, and only Keith’s maneuvering saved our lives.

More and more ships kept coming out of Atrocity. It didn’t bode well. The juggernauts, enveloped in protective domes, started moving as well, removing the anchor lines that bound them to the Shard. Could it be that the Succubate and Ananizarte were already out?

A blast from behind almost deafened me. Weldy gasped, and Nosquire cursed under his breath. I turned around. No, the goddess hadn’t failed us. She was going all-out, working off her freedom.

At first, I thought that the Pandas’ stronghold exploded with a thunderous boom, expelling thousands of debris, but when the cloud dissipated, I saw that the black fortress had survived, even if at a high cost. A web of cracks ran down the walls, the largest of them almost splitting the fortress in half. A huge pillar of crimson fire shot out of it, radiating malevolent light. Inside, it was all boiling flame and darkness; like a volcanic geyser, it burst, disappearing in the pink mist of the Astral Plane. The juggernauts were rapidly fleeing the fiery fountain, trying to make a circle around it.

I didn’t envy the players caught inside Atrocity. Even the wall paint crackled when in the presence of the furious Goddess of Darkness. Still, the Pandas were the strongest alliance in the whole of Sphere. I had managed to catch them by surprise, but it wouldn’t last forever. They probably had the power and the tools enough to topple any adversary, even a god. I could imagine the state of their command channel. In a few more minutes, they would recover enough for payback, and their payback would be a bitch.

“Cat, we can’t shake them off!” Keith’s voice broke me out of my trance. “There’s too many of them!”

The fire from the enemy ships kept getting closer, leaving vapor trails. Keith maneuvered for dear life, but Pandorum’s vessels had captains just as experienced. Their skiffs and fast corvettes spread apart, trying to box us in, and more vessels loomed behind them, putting up sails. If they came close enough to fire, one discharge would be enough to destroy our ship.

From the looks of it, it was time for my surprise number four. I pulled out a heavy bronze horn with an elaborate engraving.

“A Signal Horn?” Octopus’ eyes widened. “Are you going to open an Astral Portal? But for whom?”

“Honestly, I have no idea!” I grinned, putting the horn to my lips.

 Interlude: Project Hell

Nestor: Tao, what are we doing here, really?

Tao: Waiting for a signal.

Peacemaker: It’s been three hours...

Tao: Stop whining! There are a hundred bodies in the raid, and half of them are whining like little girls! I’m not keeping anybody here. If you want to leave, just PM me with a “+” and strike out on your own, both from the raid and the clan. Got it?

“NICE TALKING,” Snake grumbled, turning around to his party. Stabber nodded in agreement.

“What are the Watchers’ cargo barques doing here, I wonder?” he asked, thoughtful, as he stared at the round-bellied flying vessels hovering above the raid.

“It’s not just the barques!” Tiall snorted. “Have you seen the cargo? Their holds are stuffed with Bells! If anything goes wrong, they’ll blow up and tear us into pieces!”

“Bells? What are Bells?” Mercaptan wondered.

“Bombs used during a siege,” Tiall explained enthusiastically. “A hollow ball as tall as you made out of metal and glass and divided into sections. Each contains a special alchemical admixture. When the ball breaks, they mix together, creating a big boom.”

“Why bells, though?”

“They ring just like them. I saw them in action when we stormed Nova on Taerland. They can take down anything!”

“So are we storming a castle, then?” Stabber asked.

“I doubt that. We don’t have any siege weapons,” Snake reasoned. “We’re probably going to ambush someone, and the barques will act as fireships.”

“No, it’s not that. The freighters don’t have any domes or armor. They’ll explode at first hit.”

Mirgus: Attention!