Titan: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 4) Jez Cajiao (top ten books of all time TXT) 📖

Climbing in full armor was a terrifying experience, not lessened by the blasts of fire that flew up randomly from below, or the screeching and crashing from the other side of the wall.

In armor, not only could I not feel the grips properly or bend as well as I had years ago when I’d frequented climbing weekends and excursions to indoor walls, but with the helm, I couldn’t see as well, either. My breathing grew more and more panicked and frustrated, until I heard a clatter above me, and as I pulled myself up the last few inches to grab the edge of the next level, a gnome stepped into view, clearly not realizing I was there until too late.

We both froze, me looking up and him down, and he slowly grinned at me and finished pulling his dick out, obviously intending on pissing on me, then kicking me off.

I dug my feet in and jumped, relying on the grip I had on the edge of the level, and practically flew up the last few feet, grabbing the edge of a building and rolling myself over to kick his legs out from under him.

He slammed into the floor, both nose and pecker making unprotected contact with the jagged, rusty ground, and he shrieked in pain and fury as he glowered up at me, before meeting my boot coming the other way.

I stomped hard on his upturned face, then kicked him off the edge, hearing the roof below stop his fall with a crunch. I rolled onto my stomach, forcing myself to jump to my feet as I searched my surroundings.

The majority of the gnomes I’d seen earlier were gone, a veritable small mob running away down a street that disappeared to my left, and I dismissed them, sprinting for the house Oracle had indicated. It was less than a minute’s lumbering dash to reach the door, which hung half off its hinges, swaying crazily.

I kicked it in, taking it fully off its remaining hinge as I stepped into the gloom. My DarkVision painted it in greys and greens… and I swore viciously.

The room was filled with bodies and blood, and the hole where something had torn through the roof was centered over the middle of the pile.

My naginata was gone.

Chapter Twenty

I turned abruptly, rushing back outside, and saw the cavern before me, taking the time to try to figure out who and where. It didn’t take long.

There was a running battle being fought by dozens of gnomes as they blitzed across the cavern, heading right for the large building on the far side that the red robed figure was stationed atop.

As I watched, he fired a barrage of silvery darts through the air, and they slammed into a glowing, icy-blue shield that blocked off the entrance to my team’s area.

The shield flickered and pulsed, but I could see my people hiding behind it as gnomes scaled the wall. Worried, I reached out, calling to Oracle.

“Are you all okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, but the walls are starting to give way; whoever that is, they’ve got a LOT of mana, and Yen says her ‘Scan’ identify spell wouldn’t work, so they’re at least level thirty…”

“Well, fuck,” I sent back. “They’ve got my naginata as well; looks like the little bastards are taking it to the boss.”

“Dammit. We’re getting hammered here. I can probably get out to you, though? Once the shield falls, I can sneak through if I have Lydia wait until she uses hers…”

“And if the goblins use that opportunity to get in to reach you all? Or if they manage to land the spells at the right time?” I asked. “No. I’ll create the diversion, see if I can get my weapon, and storm the building. When they turn to come for me, use the distraction to hammer that fucker hard.”

“I don’t like it!”

“Neither do I, but shit happens. Good luck,” I grunted, receiving a sensation of frustrated agreement and love from her in a confusing welter of emotions.

I drew a deep breath as I watched the fighting group clear another street and disappear from view, just as the Badunka Riders appeared at the bottom of the bank that led up to where I stood.

“Looks like it’s time to play,” I muttered, watching them as they raced towards me. The passenger stood up, wobbling as he aimed with his wand again.

“On the upside, two problems can cancel each other out…” I said to myself, and I felt the grin stretching my cheeks as I reached around and picked up a short spear from the ground.

I didn’t want to waste my own good weapons on a stone-covered monstrosity, after all.

I took a few deep breaths, squinting at the oncoming riders as they closed the distance and the first spell-mortar lofted towards me. I checked the mana I had, just over half, and I nodded in satisfaction.

Then I triggered Mana-Overdrive and sprinted forward.

My feet seemed to fly across the ground, rubble and debris changing from impediments to things I could use to push off even faster. Planting my foot on a wall, a pile of rubble, even a dead gnome’s corpse, all became useful as I raced at the riders, and they raced at me.

I jinked left, then right, rolled under a Fireball that screamed past, and leapt to my feet, heaving the first spear through the air at the nearest bike as it closed the distance between us.

He skidded left, then swayed right, barely staying upright, as the spear flew through the space he’d been about to cross.

His passenger, though, had been swaying and barely clinging on before they’d had to swerve, so when the Badunka straightened up, the rider looked back to find his passenger screaming as he fell, hitting the street, hard.

As the rider’s head was turned, I swept up a nearby rock and flung it as hard as I could, followed by another; then I ran forward, closing