He whistled. A hoarse howling came in answer. The bushes rustled and kobold zombies began to wander out of them with dull growls. Their levels were low. The Supreme Legate just wanted to distract me. And, of course, upset me.
I flew some distance away, thinking furiously. How could I kill someone who couldn’t die? That thought hadn’t left my head since the Nucleus gained its new legates and gave my old position to Mogwai. I’d thought of a solution, but would it succeed…?
The undead druid took on his beloved bear form, now rotting and showing bones. He jumped from the temple roof and headed toward me.
“I don’t know how you reinforced the temple,” he growled. “But I had to get the Nucleus involved to start destroying it. A slow process, but a sure one. By morning, the entire island will be a Stronghold of the Destroying Plague, and the temple will be absorbed… Oh, and I got a nice reward for it—the Legate s Crown.
Mogwai activated Subjugate Mind. Liberation prevented the undead druid from taking control of me.
I flew up, gaining speed. He had to touch me to… My flight suddenly stopped! My character hung in the air and flickered.
Emergency exit activated: external immersion capsule command interface in effect!
Exiting in: 3…
“Stop right there!” Mogwai roared, seeing that I was about to be ejected from Dis.
The white flash of Plague Fury blinded me. When my vision returned, all I could see was the intragel of my capsule receding.
A tall man stood behind the glass. He wore a stealth suit that made him almost blend into the background.
“Cargo found,” the unfamiliar man said into a radio, pulling the capsule door open. “Extraction.”
“Confirming extraction,” came the crackling answer.
Chapter 21: New Hope
THE MAN STRETCHED out a hand and poked me in the chest. My eyes darkened and the world lost its color.
My vision fragmented and I closed my eyes…
Spontaneous Divine Revelation activated!
With my eyelids still glued shut, I felt dry desert air, heard the beat of drums and the challenging call of horns. I hung above the temple, surrounded by NergaTs army. The only thing different about this branch of reality was that Tiamat the two-headed dragon was no longer beneath me.
“You see those too, Scyth?” Crawler’s voice squawked from the comm amulet. “The Aspects of Light. Last time they appeared was during the Swarm War. How big are they? Around two hundred feet tall?”
I was back at the start of the battle! But how did Divine Revelation show what happened out of Dis? Which event was it that the Sleepers considered critical and gave me a chance to replay?
“Yeah, something like that,” Yemi answered for me. “Those creatures are always a hundred levels above the highest-level player in Dis.”
“Is that legal?” Infect asked.
Bomber’s concerned voice interrupted the chatter:
“Hey, Scyth, are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay!” I shouted into the comm amulet, finally realizing where and when was. “Everyone back to the temple right now!”
Fortunately, they didn’t ask questions. I sprinted to the troggs and Morena’s cultists, and, brooking no objection, ordered them to return through the portal back to Kharinza. Next I darted to the ores of the Broken Axe and ordered them to do the same. Their chief Sarronos struck his chest with his fist and roared that only cowards retreat, and the ores of the Broken Axe were no cowards, but I threatened to remove them from the Sleepers’ protection. That worked. The ores, their armor and weapons clanking, ran to the portal to Shad’Erung.
Our retreat provoked trills and joyous cries from the enemy. I didn’t care. With great relief, I saw the guardians and Patrick. Alive. I couldn’t repeat the battle anyway; I just didn’t have time before Mogwai’s attack, and, if it really did happen, the strangers’ arrival on Alaska. And without me, the temple wouldn’t survive.
I took the boys aside and told them what threatened us. Their already serious faces now looked even more stressed. Veins were standing out on Bomber’s head.
“We’ll have to sacrifice Tiamat’s temple,” I reasoned. “We’re going to jump to Kharinza, and all of you log out of Dis. Tell the security officers what I saw. In the meantime, I’ll put an end to Mogwai.”
“Are you sure you can?” Crawler asked.
“No. But it’s worth a try…”
After waiting for the mercenaries, ores, troggs, guardians and Yoruba to leave, I pulled the goblin portal beacon out of the sand. The spatial rifts leading to Kharinza and Shad’Erung drew closed.
Right after that, the boys and I cast Depths Teleportation to the fort. They logged out to warn the security officers. I hovered above the fort, still whole for now, awaiting the Supreme Legate of the Destroying Plague. I sent the NPCs to hide in the jungle and asked the workers to log out of Dis.
I didn’t have to wait long. The smacking sound characteristic only of Depths Teleportation rang out from right by the tavern. Just as I feared, Tissa appeared on Kharinza, and on Mogwai’s arm.
Before they could get their bearings, I sent Tissa to sleep with Lethargy, then shot straight down on the Supreme Legate like lightning, grabbed him and jumped with him to the former castle of the Widowmakers. Right into the basement where Eileen kept me prisoner.
Mogwai fired off Plague Fury, but that just activated my Equanimity. The explosion hit the walls, but they withstood.
My extreme strength stats let me keep a death grip on the exploding druid. I dragged him into the cell where I once languished in the Widowmakers’ care. Gangster-like goblins from the Green League were already leaping into action.
“What the hell are you doing? You can’t kill me! Idiot!” Mogwai spat, but no matter how he struggled, his abilities weren’t working here. “I’ll
