The Fourth Secret: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Divine Apostasy Book 4) A. Kay (best management books of all time .TXT) 📖

in the head, and exploded. A blind debuff appeared as searing heat scorched his armor, and he staggered backward from the force of the explosion.

The Scouts had started to use their serious abilities as well. Ruwen needed to end this quickly. Still blinded, he jumped five feet to the left, assuming the enemy would follow up immediately with other attacks.

Ruwen’s vision returned as three more explosions detonated where he’d just been. His Mana dropped by twenty-five as he cast Jump, and leaped at the last Fighter.

The Stone Piercer had transformed his shield, covering it in razor sharp pieces of rock. Ruwen remembered the Bone Sculptor’s exploding armor, and he avoided standing in front of the shield.

Now that Ruwen had closed on the Fighter again, the Scouts held their fire. They stood in a semi-circle around the pair, waiting for a clear shot. Ruwen’s map displayed the green dots of his party, and they were dangerously close to his location. The last thing he wanted was these Scouts, unable to attack him, to take their frustrations out on his friends.

Ruwen opened his Void Band four feet wide, channeled fifty Energy per second to the oil he still carried, and in one quick swipe, soaked the entire area with three thousand gallons of oil. All the Scouts remained clean, as each had triggered a personal shield, but Ruwen didn’t need to kill them right now, just distract them.

With twenty Mana, Ruwen cast Warm Welcome, and summoned a flaming dagger that stunned its target for half a second. He threw it at the ground and the entire area erupted in flames.

Smoke and fire made it hard to see, but Ruwen’s Survey and Ground Echo combined to paint the area in detailed yellow lines across his vision. With three long strides, he closed on the Stone Piercer.

As soon as Ruwen appeared out of the inferno, the Fighter attacked. The shield’s stone shards exploded outward, but Ruwen leaped to the side, avoiding the spray of deadly rocks.

The Fighter had planned for that and flicked his acid oozing sword. Yellow liquid arced through the air, striking Ruwen’s armor as he landed. The acid hit the Fresh Air spell with enough force to penetrate, coating his eyes.

Ruwen’s eighty-five percent Acid Resistance coupled with his Gold Fortified body meant he didn’t take any damage, but it still interfered with his vision and it burned uncomfortably.

Falling down, Ruwen moaned in pain, as if the acid had incapacitated him. The Stone Piercer approached from behind Ruwen, sword raised. Ruwen cast Retrieve, his Mana dropping by fifty, and jerked on the Fighter’s back foot. As the Fighter regained his balance, Ruwen spun his body, bringing his legs around in a sweep and knocking the Stone Piercer to the ground.

Ruwen pounced on the fallen Fighter, slamming his hands, still channeling Melt, against the Stone Piercer’s face. Ruwen’s hands sank slowly into the stone armor, as if pushing them through mud.

The Stone Piercer had lost his sword, and he pounded Ruwen’s head with his fists instead. The Fighter’s increased strength, coupled with the stone fists, combined to make for brutal strikes, but they had no impact on Ruwen. Five seconds later, the Fighter stopped moving, his head now appearing like a half-burned candle.

Ruwen stopped channeling Melt, opened his Void Band, and carefully shot at the Scouts hidden in the smoke and flames, Survey and Stone Echo making him deadly accurate. He launched eight chunks of granite, a rusty sword, and six rusty spears, before the four surviving Scouts retreated into the cave.

As Hamma, Sift, and Xavier came up behind him, Ruwen gave them a nod and then immediately headed for the cave. They had no time to waste.

Chapter 58

Stone Echo and Survey allowed Ruwen to move confidently forward. Nearing the cave, rushing water echoed off the stone, amplifying its sound. The air cooled from the fast moving streams that flowed around the cave entrance from the lake above. The Scouts continued to retreat down the tunnel to the large chamber below.

As they entered the cave, Hamma triggered her Light Guardian ability, and the column of white light lit the surroundings. The guardian wouldn’t heal the group, but would heal Hamma, who would keep them all alive.

Ruwen entered the tunnel at the rear of the cave and spoke in Chat. Xavier follows me, then Hamma, and Sift guards the rear. Stay close in case they collapse the tunnel.

The map displayed the area for five hundred feet. Not only had the enemy expanded the size of a natural cavern below, but they’d also dug a tunnel off it, headed straight down and out of sight.

Even though Ruwen couldn’t smell it through his scarf or the Fresh Air spell, he knew Lylan had encountered a toxic gas down here. He triggered Analyze.

Target: Ether Gas

Type: Resource

Components: Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen

Health (Air%): Intoxication (1%-4%), Unconsciousness (6%-12%), Death (>20%)

Alchemy: Pain Blocker, Drug, Flammable (requires 3% Oxygen)

Uses: Pain Management, Explosives, Fire, Enjoyment

Lylan remained unconscious, and her Health pool hadn’t dropped.

Rami, can you explain this?

It’s to hold prisoners.

They’re using alchemy instead of magic, Ruwen said in sudden understanding. That is brilliant.

It leaves their Mages free to fight, not keep prisoners in a coma.

That isn’t good for us.

No. And you have nothing like this.

I know. We either must kill them so fast they’re all stuck in queue, or we need to take out their revival baths. Keeping prisoners is beyond our capabilities.

The tunnel guards Lylan had seen earlier had disappeared, and Ruwen strode down the passageway. Naktos had found an incredibly efficient way to remove soldiers from battle. Countries had won wars simply because they had more revival resources than their enemy and could quickly revive their dead soldiers. Killing your enemy only put them in a queue for rebirth, and you’d face them again within the week.

Breaking the revival sequence was a critical step in victory, and Ruwen had just discovered part of the enemy’s plan. The temperature dropped the further they walked, and he felt the air’s moisture through