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

enemies, as bright red and green slimes, each of them the size of a large bear, rushed to attack the raid. They spat acid and completely ignored physical damage, but as it turned out, didn’t fancy fire. Leaving withered black clots in its wake, the raid cautiously moved along the wall of the cave, circumnavigating the Ziggurat.

Inker, one of our flank scouts, either grew too careless or too curious in his stealth mode and came up a little bit too close to the monstrous structure, crossing the invisible line of its range.

Something moved at the foot of the pyramid, and several nimble metallic bodies reminding me of huge armored tigers swiftly slid forward.

Abbot: Steel Predators! Inker, (censored), drop dead! Don’t even think about leading them to us!

 

Leaping with a catlike grace, the Predators stopped, tensing as the plates of their armor moved apart. An amazing low roar, almost infrasound, sent a wave across the plants, the fluctuations of air reaching even us. A Sonic Boom! Inker was thrown out of stealth, and a second later, the guardian beasts took him down in just a few blows.

Abbot: We need to raise him. We have less than a minute. Are the healers close?

 

Damian: No! They’re still pretty far!

 

Abbot: HotCat, try to do it. They won’t touch you.

Olaf: Renew See Unseen on him!

 

HotCat, again HotCat. I wondered who would resurrect me if those Predators deemed me their prey, unlike the gladiators? But at least I had the Soulbinding Stone with me.

Fortunately, the creatures, who were slowly returning to the pyramid, didn’t pay me any attention. Inker’s resurrection timer was counting down the final seconds when I ran up to them and clicked “Assist,” rescuing him from his dying state. The scout didn’t waste time, immediately dashing away from the Ziggurat’s aggro range. The Predators startled and turned around, but quickly stopped and resumed moving. Then they jumped on the first step of the pyramid and froze as unmoving statues. I saw similar creatures on the second and the third tiers, as well as others, resembling giant spiders. Were they another type of guardian beings created by the Ancients?

Olaf: They aren’t touching you, Cat. Go to the Ziggurat, try to get inside.

 

HotCat: And how do I escape if I get killed there?

 

Olaf: Calm down, we’ll pull you out. I have a certain artifact. If it comes down to it, I’ll use it, I promise.

 

HotCat: Fine...

 

At last, I could examine the Colossus from up close. Its reddish-blue-green metal looked just like bronze tinged with patina. The statue definitely depicted a human man, but not an athlete, more like a hunk. He wasn’t armed, but wore scalemail and a weird helmet with five divergent spikes that made it look like a crown. He had bulging eyes, a beak-like nose, and thin lips. The only way to describe the expression on his round, beardless face was “malevolent.”

None of the creatures paid me any heed. The metallic statues on the steps of the Ziggurate — the Ancients’ guardian beasts — didn’t flinch. I couldn’t help but shudder as I walked past them. All of them were hideous, both the already familiar Predators, the scary-looking centipedes, large spiders the size of a small house...

The entrance was between the feet of the Colossus, a wide staircase leading up to it. At the end there was door, or rather a stone plate covered with a pattern of bodies merging together that I had already seen. One of the handprints glowed with the blue light of a trigger. Time to put up my hand.

The stone slab silently went up, revealing a stairway disappearing into darkness. It looked pretty creepy. All right, Cat, it’s just a game! I pulled out an everburning torch, lit it up, and went inside.

A triangular corridor, shadows dancing on the wall in the glimmering light of the torch... and nothing else. The passage was completely empty, bereft even of dust and cobwebs, the usual inhabitants of such places. The stairs led up, straight as an arrow. I stopped on a platform with two dark entrances on both sides. Should I take a look? I didn’t really feel like it, but wasn’t that the reason I had been sent inside?

Holding the torch in front of me, I entered the right doorway only to recoil on instict. A metallic six-legged spider hung right above me, filling the entire space of the narrow room. Torchlight illuminated its menacing jagged limps and sharp mandibles. The spider didn’t flinch. Was it a guarding device? Oh, screw it. I carefully retreated, walking backwards. After that, the left door looked even less enticing, but I forced myself to go on. Just as expected, it had one more monster just like before.

Moving up, I encountered another platform. The doors there were closed and covered with a glowing inscription of Kann-Elo runes. That was clearly a cypher of some king. My gut told me to move on, not touching toys I knew nothing about, and I gladly obeyed.

Up, up, and away. I had a nagging feeling that the real purpose of my journey lay still ahead, at the end of the narrow staircase.

That turned out to be the case. As I stood on the doorstep of a large hexagonal building, I blew off my torch — the light shining from the cracks in the walls was more than enough to illuminate the way. I had climbed to the very top of the Ziggurat, the Colossus’ horned helm peeking out from one of the lancet holes. So what have we here?

All in all, it was a curious place. An altar room, a cemetery, or a command center? Maybe all at once. Rows of rectangular stone blocks were covered with the writings of the Ancients. An elaborate web of ellurite-carrying cables ran over the walls and the