Tower of Avarice: A LitRPG story

Chapter 47 – Floor 5: Part 8

The sharp piece of iron rocketed forward as Mathew funnelled mana into the ‘Catapult’ spell. Piercing one of the Greater Mimics in its chest, the creature was unprepared for the sudden assault and couldn’t dodge in time.

The monster skidded backwards from the momentum of the Blessing, slamming into one of the vats where the piece of iron punctured the container and bent, trapping the Mimic in place. The frustrated Mimic, with the appearance of a human, tried to pull itself forward, but the twisted metal tangled with its body.

While Mathew prepared another Catapult Blessing, Ken fanned a half dozen throwing knives in his hand like a fan. When he threw them, they sought their targets like guided missiles. Weaving around obstacles, each of the Blessing-enhanced Knives pierced a Mimic body.

Even though it wasn’t enough to kill them, there wasn’t even any visible blood from the wounds, it slowed and hindered their movements.

But it was Alivia who was the real threat.

Pulling out another card from her deck, her face paled as she saw what it did. With no time to draw another and no choice on what the next card would do, she flipped it into the air while shouting the command word.

“Summon Fiend!” She said, a feeling of nervousness and trepidation in her stomach at the spell. There hadn’t been many summoning spells in the shop, but they were amongst the most valuable cards she could get, so she had bought them all.

The only problem was Fiends were notoriously fickle to summon and control. The shop description had warned her to be wary of whatever emerged from the card and not to let it slip her control for an instant.

A circle of burning flames appeared, surrounding Alivia and the card that she had thrown on the ground. The cavern began to shake, and the air filled with smoke that smelled of sulphur. She could hear whispers in the distance and horrible laughter.

The red and orange flames turned darker, crimson and pure black. The world was nothing but shadows and darkness.

Alivia couldn’t see anything outside of the circle of fire until a pair of scarlet eyes appeared from the shadows. A creature stepped into her view from beyond their world and stared at her with malevolence.

It was a hound, as large as a horse and covered in spiky fur. Its claws dug into the stone, and each breath it exhaled was filled with smoke. It howled, and the terror shot down Alivia’s spine.

What had she summoned from hell?

The Hellhound stared at her, and she could feel it trying to wrestle control of their bond away from her. The card had warned her this would happen, that it would pit its willpower against her own, and if she lost, it would consume her first before devouring everything else in sight.

They fought each other for what felt like an eternity before the monster slowly submitted. Covered in sweat and exhausted, she pointed at the Mimics, who could finally be seen as the world returned to normal and the black flames extinguished.

Time seemed to have stopped while she summoned the Hellhound, and the Mimics were astonished when the Hellhound leapt from the shadows and attacked them.

Even the Greater Mimics had trouble stopping it, and the summoned monster tore into them. Its claws raked great rents in their malleable flesh, and when its teeth sunk into their bodies, it felt like they were burning.

Ben Olson snarled like a beast as he watched the Champions try to resist the inevitable. He and the other Greater Mimics had a sacred purpose for their race and wouldn’t let anyone get in the way. He had failed to exterminate the Champion in Arlen, Texas, but he would rectify that today.

In a blur, the Greater Mimic was moving. Weaving around the thrown knives of the small teen and the snapping jaws of the Hellhound, Ben Olson pounced on Mathew.

The Trickster tried to catapult another scrap of iron toward the approaching monster, but Ben Olson easily evaded it. Even a conjured bonfire couldn’t stop the enraged Mimic as it leapt through the flames and tackled him.

Mathew felt the Coward’s Brand burn on his chest, the mana flooding the symbols in response to the force of Ben Olson’s monstrous grip on him. Despite his best efforts, Olson couldn’t dig his fingers into the human’s skin. Something was blocking him.

Frustrated, he hurled Mathew across the room with every ounce of his strength.

Mathew sailed through the air, careening over his fighting companions and slamming into a vat. Unlike when he had impaled a Mimic onto it earlier, this time, the vat was obliterated with the force.

The air escaped Mathew’s lungs, and he could hear bones breaking as he lay in the pile of debris. Strangely, there wasn’t any pain at first. It took a moment for his mind to process it. When it did come, the agony washed over him in a wave that had him gritting his teeth to keep from crying out.

Ben Olson turned his attention to one of the other Champions, only to see that Alivia had drawn another card.

“Prayer of Healing!” Alivia shouted, and a wave of mana washed over the three companions. Mathew felt his wound close, and his bones began to repair as the agony was driven back. But, while it allowed him to get back on his feet, it wasn’t enough to completely heal him.

Roaring in rage at Mathew’s continued survival, Ben Olson rushed forward and gripped the Drafter’s hand that held the deck of cards. Before she could respond, he twisted her arm. With a loud ‘Snap,’ the limb broke, and Alivia dropped the deck onto the ground, scattering the cards everywhere.

Punching out with his right arm, he struck her in the head. Alivia was knocked out by the blow, falling to the cavern floor and not moving.

Satisfied that she would no longer be a threat, Ben Olson turned to the others only to realize the error of incapacitating the Drafter. The Hellhound, free from the confines of its bond, let out a thundering howl of rage and hunger.

Whatever constraints that had been placed on its power by its summoning were removed. The Hellhound quickly grew larger, and its fur began to burn with red fire. Where it had been having trouble fighting three of the Mimics, it was now able to toss them around like dolls.

Its jaws snapped around the neck of one of its foes. With a tear, it ripped the Mimic’s head off and swallowed it whole. It was incensed and frenzied, and even the Mimics feared the creature. They tried to run away, but the Hellhound prevented any escape.

Ken threw another knife while he ran to Mathew’s side.

“What do we do?” Ken asked.

The Mimics were momentarily overwhelmed by the Hellhound, but eventually, one side would win and return their attention to the other. Alivia was lying in the midst of the fighting, unconscious and helpless, while Ben Olson was attempting to reach Mathew and Ken through the conflict.

“Get her out of here!” Mathew said, shoving the teen away before digging into his inventory.

Ken nodded before running his way to Alivia, dodging and moving to avoid the Hellhound and the fighting Mimics. Sliding across the ground, he reached the Drafter and hefted her up, looking for an opening to leave.

Mathew removed the bag that Oscar had given him. Judging the weight, he used his Catapult ability to fling items from within as far as he could deeper into the cavern. Before one was finished moving, he was already sending the next.

“Mr. Larson!” Ben Olson shouted, running across the space between them as fast as his body could carry him. His features were no longer human. His limbs were too long, his mouth too wide and filled with sharp teeth.

He had nearly reached him when a bolt of lightning slammed into Olson’s body, sending him crashing to the ground. Ken stood with Alivia in his arms, one of the cards from the deck in his hand.

“Hurry up!” Ken urged, and Mathew flung one of the last of the orbs from Oscar’s bag, sending it sailing toward the center of the cavern before beginning to run away, but not before taking a final look at where he had sent the bombs and snapping his fingers.

The fire ignited the explosives, fueled further by the conflicting energies of the various devices Oscar had created. Red flames consumed the acid mist and grew stronger as they consumed the vats and all the Aether in the room.

The fiery explosion swept over the Greater Mimics and the Hellhound, which immediately returned to whatever plane it had come from as the destructive energies Mathew had unleashed destroyed its physical body.

Entering the passageway, Mathew leapt onto the ground just as the explosion reached him. The heat and flames rushed over his body, and he screamed as it seared his flesh and burned away the clothing from his back. It lasted only a moment before a rumbling sound came from the cavern, and the ceiling behind them collapsed, leaving them alone in the dark.

‘Ding!’