The Demonic Games (Disgardium Book #7): LitRPG Series Dan Sugralinov (top 100 books to read .txt) 📖

to my table. I had barely audibly whispered the contemptuous ‘dro,’ a word that non-citizens used for citizens. Those sitting furthest away didn’t get it right away, had to ask each other what I’d said, but then… The noise sure was something!

Every table started discussing me, since they were all done with their food already. I wasn’t, though. I sat down and started wolfing down some vegetable and scallop soup, then moved on to a juicy steak. I focused on shoveling food into my mouth. My stroll through the hall had given me time to see who was sitting with whom, and even before the highlights were shown, I knew that the balance of power had changed.

Quetzal’s group now numbered only ten, including Infect and Tissa. They had joined forces, moving their two tables together. That was probably why Renato was in a bad mood, but it was still unclear why my former friends had stayed with him. Those two looked for advantage everywhere, and it would make more sense for them to go to Marcus, who had split off from Quetzal and whose group had taken in thirty people, among them not only former members of the Quetzal-Marcus raid, but also a few previously independent groups.

Apparently, all the soloers and small parties had come to the conclusion that they could only survive now as part of a strong raid. The fact that Destiny’s group had also grown confirmed that. The silver ranger from the Children of Kratos had ten tables full of people gathered around her, including the gankers Smoothie, Riker and Phobos. After Meister’s numerous, but non-combat group, this raid was the largest.

On the other side of the stage was the small group of my allies: Hellfish from the Travelers, Anna the White Amazon and the Modus players. I figured I could come to an agreement with Hinterleaf or Horvac for the essence if one of them won — I doubted they would refuse to take part in a crusade against the Nucleus of the Destroying Plague.

All this time, I felt the watchful eyes of Donald, my new assistant. He didn’t approach, but didn’t move his eyes off me for a second either.

The contestants lazily drank wine, cocktails or shots. Darkness gradually fell, the stage lit up, and, to the roaring hymn of the Games, Guy Barron Octius descended from the ceiling.

“Good evening, contestants!” he said in his thundering announcer’s voice. “The fourth day of the Demonic Games has completely altered the balance of power! Let us watch the highlights of the day!”

Judging by its ‘highlights,’ the day was relatively boring. After the meatgrinder on the floor of the Pitfall, it took the contestants a long time to climb back up. Most of yesterday and the better part of today. Along the way there were scandals and exchanged accusations, which continued into the next day. Some of the contestants got sick of walking and killed themselves on the gate seals, then wandered lazily through the Cursed Chasm, gathering resources or drinking in the tavern and planning as they awaited their partners.

The buccaneer Dagon, one of the suiciders, had decided that he’d rather not waste another day on the endless climb up the stairs. When he broke the seal on floor 400, he did the others no favors. At first, there was no sign of the danger. Dagon survived opening the gates thanks to an ability that absorbed deadly damage.

“My bad,” he said briefly later. “The proc chance is 10%. Lucky me, right?”

Next they showed us the boss leaping around on the threshold, Jester Riddick, a three-headed demon with burning eyes and a wide smile. His horns were painted red, blue and yellow and looked like a jester’s cap. Laughing mockingly, he shouted:

“Hey hey hey, mortals! Ha! Ha! It’s all upside down! Ha! Ha! It’s all moving around! Come in, let’s have some fun!”

Dagon, who still hadn’t solved his problem of quickly getting to the top, attacked the boss. The latter dodged with a giggle and a squeal, still shouting his “Ha! Ha!”, then suddenly appeared behind Dagon and kicked him in the rear, taking away his single point of health. Jester Riddick didn’t deal any serious direct damage.

As it turned out, he ‘joked,’ and his jokes were not only not funny, they were also very painful. Riddick magicked up a red-hot horseshoe that looked more like a toilet seat, and stuck it to Dagon’s backside.

Shrieking in pain, Dagon ran outside and away from the gates, taking no damage, then started crapping on everyone walking behind him. Lava poured out of the horseshoe! And wherever it flowed, you couldn’t walk for almost an hour. It all ended with Dagon jumping into the chasm, and the others had to wait for the lava to cool. Jester Riddick continued to croon his invite to all, promising ‘unforgettable excitement.’

Then Meister surprised everyone by somehow outfitting his entire raid with jewelry on the way up! That was probably why a few solo players had joined him. His group now included not only contestants famed for their non-combat skills, but also damage-dealers, tanks and healers. They were attracted by the great equipment, potions and food, all made by leading crafters. As I understood it, some of the ingredients came from the forest, some from within the instances, and some could be bought from the merchants in exchange for the demonic gold that fell from the mobs. Thanks to the generous buffs to movement speed from the food and potions, Meister’s raid quickly made its way upwards and partially farmed the not as yet cleared floor 20. These successes explained why Joseph, Roman and Nico had been in such a good mood.

But the best player of day four was still declared to be Marcus, but not for his progress — the players never did manage to get all the way up. After falling out with Quetzal over the