The Demonic Games (Disgardium Book #7): LitRPG Series by Dan Sugralinov (iphone ebook reader TXT) 📗

Despot stood immobile as if gaining strength, head cocked to one side. A lick of flame flashed out from between his jaws like a forked tongue.

I prepared myself to die in the fire, but still ran away… mentally, at least. Actually, I crawled away from the boss about as fast as a caterpillar. But crawl I did, and Dungeon Hero sure came in handy with its bonus of 25% to attack and movement speed in instances! Maybe that was what saved me, winning me those final few inches.

The wave of heat was weak by the time it hit me, dealing no damage — the demon had failed to burn me away, but all the same, he didn’t pick up his pace. The rhythm of his footfalls remained the same, boom! boom! boom! Only his eyes burned brighter — naturally; he saw in me an Enemy of the Inferno!

The vibration of the monster’s footfalls shivered through my body, calling forth panicked thoughts. How could I defeat this awe-inspiring hellspawn? I chased the thought away, focused on moving. The distance was closing slowly, but inexorably — by the time I reached the entrance to the corridor, the boss had already crossed half the cave.

I needed to buy time, restore my spirit, then try to kill Despot in Clarity. But I went into combat when the boss first showed up, and now the bar was filling up painfully slowly. One step, another. Nether, I was so slow! Angry at myself, I seemed to speed up a little, reached the end, turned and slowly drifted into the corridor. It glowed weakly with dead silver light that seemed to be coming from lichen on the walls.

Right away, I braced myself to fight mobs — ghosts, devils, demons, nightmarish creatures of the Inferno, whoever happened to abide here. But nothing attacked; the corridor was empty.

Continuing my retreat, I turned my head in search of enemies, listening, but saw nothing further down the corridor or in its side caverns. No rustle, no scrape, no demonic laughter, just the steady approach of the boss, like a sledgehammer striking an anvil, and that strange thud, more like a cracking noise, that came from everywhere at once.

I had reached the middle of the corridor when Despot reappeared, still approaching at the same unhurried pace. The boss knew no fatigue, knew that sooner or later he would catch up to his prey.

Straining myself to the utmost, covered in sweat, I rushed for a fork at the end of the corridor, but the air was as sticky as before, as if my body was stuck in slowly hardening amber… And then, finally, my kneecap cracked back into place — I had recovered from the wound from Marcus’s club! Minus one Limping, plus one to confidence!

The miserly boost to my speed inspired me and I picked up my pace. The air had turned from amber to jelly. Faster! One more step! Another! I drove myself on, listening to the heavy footfalls of Despot approaching. The chitinous spines on his skull left deep gouges in the ceiling, emitting a high-pitched screech like the wail of a banshee.

My biggest fear was that the corridor was a dead end, but no! Turning to the right a couple of moments before the boss appeared, I saw I was in luck: there was a turn, and the ceiling was far lower — the boss would have to get on all fours, which I hoped would slow him down.

The twenty paces to the end were hell. Despot’s fiery breath burned the back of my neck, my spine baked under his hateful gaze. Unable to resist, I slowly turned in place and saw that Despot had been forced to crouch down. The chitinous spines on his arms scraped against the walls, but he approached me with the same speed as before. Stone hissed and melted into acrid smoke where his body rubbed against it.

Anything but a dead end! Please let it not be a dead end… Phew, lucky again — a right turn. I dove into it a second before the demon’s clawed hand covered the spot where I had just been standing, melting the surface of the stone, leaving behind a rapidly cooling crust of glass. I needed to get out of there fast. If I got backed into a corner, I wouldn’t be able to escape even with Clarity — Despot’s colossal figure blocked out the entire passageway.

Ten steps and another fork. Left? Straight ahead? Right? I surged to the right, away from a hand trying to squash me like a bug.

Cartography skill increased: +1. Current level: 2.

Thank the Sleepers, just what I need! The sarcastic thought set the gears of my mind in motion. Why was I panicking when I could be trying to use even this situation to get some advantage, level something up? But what?

Quickly going through my skills in my head, I went into Stealth, but the boss was too close. He reached out an arm that blurred the air around it with heat, felt around on the floor, and I was knocked out of stealth right away:

Stealth check failed! Despot detected you!

I needed to get out of there, and fast. If the boss didn’t catch up to me in that corridor, then he would in the next one. I wasn’t going to give up! I stood up and started staggering away again.

Three steps later, something popped in my inventory and I felt a lightness. Overburdened had ended! I could fly again!

Taking off from the ground, I turned to the demon crawling through the narrow corridor. I couldn’t resist giving him the finger.

I was sure Despot was full of surprises. The damn demon might, for example, spit fire when he realized that his helpless victim was slipping away, so I hurried to