The Gene of the Ancients (Rogue Merchant Book #2): LitRPG Series by Roman Prokofiev (ebook reader for comics .TXT) 📗

“You’re asking what it means?” Alex answered my question. “Those are two different symbols, ‘Sin’ and ‘Daa’. ‘Sin’ is a two-digit number, while ‘Daa’ means ‘a wall, to build’. Together, they form a strange ideogram the meaning of which can only be hypothesized.”

Oh, smarty pants. The characters didn’t react to their touch, but as soon as I pressed any of them with my own fingers, they glowed bright blue, fading with a subsequent contact. Most of all it resembled an old touch button console. We seemed to have figured it out, it wasn’t too complicated, but we needed to be sure that we wouldn’t be teleported heaven knew where.

“Got it! Here it is, ‘Sin’. And that’s ‘Daa’, the one with a line above it. Press it, HotCat.”

Both icons flashed. The only thing left to do was to press “Launch”. With a solemn expression, I laid my hand on the handprint on the pedestal, making it light up. We heard a high-pitched sound, like the ringing of a bell. Suddenly, the beams of the cage started moving.

* * *

Illith: Tao, alarm! Are you there?

Tao: Yes. What is it?

Illith: The Watchers have activated the Crossroads. Some gismo has appeared, and they all went inside. Here’s a screenshot and a video.

Tao: Wait a sec. Whoa! Have you seen how it happened?

Illith: No.

Tao: So that’s how Hird moved from one end of the Paths to the other. I see. Illith, try following them!

Illith: How?! They’ll see me!

Tao: It doesn’t matter anymore. We need to learn where they’re headed and how this thing works. Can you do it?

Illith: I could try. If I don’t make it back, think of me as a hero.

Tao: A hero? If you don’t make it back, we’ll think of you as an asshole.

* * *

At the last moment, a lithe shadow slipped through the beams of the “cage”, turning into a leather-clad figure with a face mask. Illith! Our old friend! He had been trailing us, sneaking across cleared passages. The Watchers immediately pressed him against the floor.

“You were spying on us, scum!”

“Don’t yell at me, it’s not a free-for-all! Helt Akor’s for everyone. It’s just we’re going the same way,” the PROJECT fighter said with a grin.

“If not for our treaty, we’d cut you down on the spot.” The tip of a spear was an inch away from Illith’s face.

“So what’s the problem?” he smirked, glaring at us. “Come on, let’s finish it! I won’t even flinch, or you might miss!”

“Leave him, let’s figure it out later,” Komtur bellowed, and the Watchers reluctantly put their weapons away. “We can always kill him later. There’s no escaping it for him.”

In the meantime, the beams started spinning at such speed that they merged together into a solid glowing ball. The weird sensation of a fall took my breath away, making the contents of my stomach rise up to my throat, as if I was driving a car and riding down a steep slope. The rainbow fog that seeped in from the outside slowly dissipated.

The whirling started to slow down, and finally, the cage stopped spinning for good. Once again, we were at the Crossroads.

But this Crossroads was completely different! The contrast was clear: half of the Ancients’ lamps were dark, two of the tunnels had their entrances collapsed, while the remains of some odd mechanism were sticking out from the third. The floor was covered with a dozen waist-high metallic spheres made of the same reddish-green material as the beams of the “cage.”

Having delivered us there, the mysterious lift once again demonstrated its ability to transform and folded into the smooth floor. In a few seconds, nothing could remind us of the pedestal and the “cage” — it was an ordinary hub present on each Layer of the Paths.

“Tao’s trailing us,” Olaf quietly told Komtur. The latter nodded grimly, once again glancing at the HELL warrior.

“Well, ratling, what are you waiting for? Run!”

Illith kept looking around as he walked backward, then turned and dashed to the free passage, maneuvering between the odd metallic spheres. We couldn’t do anything to him, as the agreement with PROJECT forbade us any acts of aggression. Any violator would have to pay a million-gold fine and receive an oathbreaker debuff.

All of a sudden, the spheres shifted and started rolling, spraying out jets of steam. With a sharp click, their top halves opened up to release metallic humanoid bodies, their legs replaced with half-spheres. Their intimidating-looking crested helmets, round barreled shields, red embers in the eye slits — all of that was made from that reddish-green metal.

Olaf: Ancient Gladiators!

The raid instantly closed ranks, bristling with spears. The weird creatures — gladiators, as Olaf called them — were circling us at crazy speed, getting closer. Several chased after Illith, but the assassin, his moves smooth as water, managed to evade them and fled through a crack in the corridor obstructed by the wrecked mechanism.

The darts and arrows fired by the Watchers scraped against the metallic frames, not dealing any damage. Fire, a cloud of acid, hungry darkness — nothing seemed to faze the constructs. Icy Spear thrown by one of the mages only delayed them for a few seconds. How should we hit them?!

The first gladiator burst into the ranks of the raid like a battering ram. The force of its blow was enough to trample the line, pinning down several players. Two broad swords rapidly spun in its hands, blending into hazy circles. Three raid icons went dark one after another — someone got caught in the grinder. The other gladiators followed. At breakneck pace, they swept into the crowd, wreaking real terror. One turned up right next to me, its huge blade aimed right at my