I also attached two million gold. One million and eight hundred thousand for identification, the rest—for a portal to the Lake District and just in case…
Wo ah, Scyth! You tempter! Rita messaged me when she got the money. Time to get a disguise and run…
I was prepared for any outcome, but I had no time to respond—all eight legates revived at once, and I had no time to reflect.
The Elites fought desperately—not with me, but with my pets. Two tried to escape through the portal, but hit trouble. From this side, the Great Plague Poi’tal didn’t lead anywhere yet.
Mogwai took to his heels in panther form. I managed to catch him and didn’t let him get away again… until his invulnerability fell after the first minute and a half of battle. My pets dealt damage against my brother legate for me. The druid tried to escape on his flying mount again, and the stingray fought the dragoness. I clung onto the wriggling panther with a death grip as it tried to claw out my eyes. Crash and Iggy tore the others to pieces as they ran.
When Mogwai breathed his last breath for the third time, I set a mental timer for twelve hours—in that time, I had to return my human form and escape the subjugation of the Destroying Plague.
* * *
I flew across the desert from the stronghold to Tiamat’s temple, carefully watching all the large formations of the army of Light. You can’t change human nature, and the players were still human. They didn’t give a damn about Nergal’s stereotypical quests or the squabbles between the Sleepers and the Destroying Plague. Many of them just farmed mobs, grinded levels, gathered rare ingredients. Others ganked the farmers as they fought desert beasts and stole their loot. There was no sign of unity among Nergal’s followers.
But here and there were also large and cohesive raids, with a firm intention to grasp their share of the Radiant’s rewards, and were advancing toward the temple with purpose. A mile or so from the temple, well-defended Alliance camps grew like weeds. They awaited reinforcements. From above, their forcefield domes looked like dozens of soap bubbles on sand-colored asphalt.
The second-tier clans may not have the riches and power of the Alliance, but they had greater numbers. By my most conservative estimations, over seventy thousand players were moving toward the temple. In the two days of Nergal’s event, they’d adapted to the local monsters, done plenty of farming and gained a lot of levels. The Alliance didn’t mess around either. The player leaderboards showed that overnight, not only had the leaders of the preventers and Mogwai broken the barrier of level four hundred, but so had some front-line members of the Alliance clans.
I couldn’t imagine that I could withstand them. All I could do was put my hopes in Tiamat’s rewards and the risky idea I was willing to attempt, wagering the temple to squeeze out as much as I could from the bonuses of the undead race and Immortality…
Rita Overweight didn’t let me down—she identified the divine artifacts, used a hauler’s guild portal to jump to the Lake District and waited there. I copied a new disguise while flying over the desert, from one of the raiders. I found my friend in the agreed spot, hugged her and took her to Kharinza. Since my trip to Kinema with Patrick, Depths Teleportation had allowed me to bring along anyone I wanted. All I had to do was touch them, but this was the first time I was using it.
She opened her eyes, breathed out and looked around. We stood by the Pig and Whistle. People wandered the fort’s main street—mostly nonhuman, but there were some miners too.
“Hi, Alex…” Rita said. Her face was an inch from mine, and I unwillingly released my embrace. “That was… sudden!”
“Hey! Sony, I didn’t want to risk staying there.”
“No, I liked it!” The girl took a step back to look me up and down. “So that’s what a max-potential Threat looks like. My friend! Am I dreaming? I’ve seen the news, I knew it was you, but here, in the flesh…”
“You’ll get used to it, Rita,” I promised. “Or Overweight? Which do you prefer?”
“Take a look,” the girl smiled.
I stopped looking her in the eyes and let my gaze drop, looking her up and down—practically an identical copy of her real self, with a few cosmetic improvements. Of course, that’s how I recognized her… Oh, that’s what it was! Overweight wasn’t Overweight anymore!
Irita, human, level 18 Merchant
Hmm. We hadn’t taken her into the clan after all. Tissa had promised to do that, but maybe she hadn’t found the time… or didn’t want to.
“You changed your nick?”
“Yep. It wasn’t right anymore. I don’t have any extra weight, on the contrary, my weight’s just right.” Her tanned face lit up with a gleaming smile. “Rita, Irita, call me what you like. Are you going to show me around? Oh, by the way, here are the artifacts and your change. I feel kinda scared walking around with all this. Responsibility, you know.”
Irita it was, then.
I took the identified artifacts and quickly looked them over.
Ehis’ Inspiration
Divine artifact.
Unique item.
Ebis, God of Fishing, is always with you. You always get a bite!
Chance of loss after death lowered by 100%.
Isis’ Blessing
Divine artifact.
Unique item.
Isis, the old goddess of fertility, placed a particle of her being into this ancient artifact.
For a day, cr’eates perfect weather within a 50 yard radius. All life within the artifact’s area of effect grows three times as fast.
Cooldown: 7 days.
Chance of loss after
