The Heroic Villain 2 Read online

  Lilith arrived in the next instant and slashed out with a knife, cutting deep into the bright red tentacle. The moment her weapon sliced through its flesh, the octopus freaked out. It expelled the remaining water from its body, shrinking down to a ridiculously small size until it looked like a deflated balloon, and attempted to jet away. But no matter how much it tried to escape, Lilith had already grabbed hold of its special tentacle, and she was pulled along with the monster.

  Most of its body turned white, but little letters appeared on the octopus’s face, spelling out a message in black via its chromatophores. “Let go! Please, don’t! I’ll let you through!”

  Lilith seemed to pay attention to the words for a moment and then patted the creature on the head. The gesture looked very gentle, and the monster even calmed down for a moment, but the peace didn’t last long. The pat she had given its head in the water wasn’t done with love, affection, or even understanding, and it turned out to be nothing more than a ploy for her to get a better grip of the monster. Thomas realized her hands must have been slipping as the octopus dragged her and the net, and she had almost gotten caught inside the trap too. Then, while holding on to the creature’s head with one hand, Lilith began viciously stabbing her knife into it, repeatedly plunging her blade into the beast. Bright red blood blossomed up into the water, and she drove the knife into its flesh again and again until she almost completely disappeared in the churning red water.

  Thomas, Oceanus, and Janet watched on, completely absorbed by the brutal sight in front of them.

  You have killed Fred the Octopus, Dreaded Fiend of the Depths. You have been awarded 500 EXP. A calligraphy set and 50 large seashells have dropped upon death.

  Yes! With her, we can definitely defeat Lucas! Thomas felt a new surge of confidence sweep through him after witnessing his new hire’s abilities. He marveled at Lilith’s precision in particular--and for good reason. Players who chose one of the various races other than Human often found themselves in control of extra arms, long tails, webbed feet, or other numerous other examples of exotic, alien features, so the majority of players in the starter area weren’t extremely familiar with how to handle their bodies. Humans were generally one of the exceptions, as their in-game body structure often matched exactly that of the player’s, allowing them to quickly adjust. Even then, however, most people spent the majority of their lives behind desks and had little to no training in combat. Adapting to the demanding nature of fights within the virtual world wasn’t an easy transition, and it didn’t come naturally to very many people at all.

  Some companies had even gone so far as to set up dojos and martial art studios to help players compensate for the issue. By training their body and their mind-muscle connections in the real world, players were much more able to adapt quickly to combat within the virtual realm. Since dive machines kept their users’ bodies in peak physical condition and provided them with optimal nutrition, devoted players were often able to develop extraordinary talents.

  The game did its best to provide players with skills after they advanced far enough in their class, but those types of skills didn’t come right away. Early on, most people relied on the game’s innate mechanics in order to complete fights; and, as such, most players struggled early on. They flailed around aimlessly, they didn’t react quickly, and they weren’t prepared for the battle. Lilith, however, was one of the few that Thomas had ever seen who seemed perfectly fluid in her motions. Her reactions were perfectly timed, she was clearly trained in the use of at least one weapon, and while she was a bit savage, she was brutally effective.

  It gave Thomas hope. With her, the princess--my princess--won’t have to spend the rest of her life as some object under that sadistic tyrant’s control. I mean, sure, she’s going to have to adjust to being rescued at first. Who knows what they put that poor AI through? But over time . . . He paused as he recalled the beautiful Alfar woman: her glorious dark brown hair, her vibrant violet eyes, her sweet smile and creamy, silky skin. Over time, she’ll learn to be happy again. I’ll treat her so kindly. He couldn’t help but imagine the life that they would have together. Images of her sitting in a little chair like a perfect NPC wife, their little cozy home nestled in the trees of Waldberg, the meals that she would prepare from the fresh rabbits he would bring home, and, of course, the walnut pies that she would bake.

  That’s right, Lilith, you’ll make my dream come true! Smiling gleefully, he swam after the black-leather-clad woman who had already discarded the monster’s corpse and made her way over to the ladder.

  After climbing out of the water, the group spit out their Blue Balls and pocketed them for later. The items cost a silver coin a piece, and on noob island, that wasn’t a small amount.

  “So, while we’re waiting on our Dwarf, what’s ahead of us?” Oceanus asked.

  “This place is usually crawling with guards, and the dungeon lord has them stacked on top of each other so that, if you get caught by a patrol, you’ll end up facing ten enemies instead of just a few,” Thomas explained. “But . . . well, for some reason, the guards disappeared yesterday. So, I’m not exactly sure what to expect now. Their routes may have been changed. Otherwise, there are a few dozen spots we need to avoid stepping, as they’ll set off traps, but that’s about it. From here to the boss room, it’s a straight shot.”

  “Really?” Oceanus asked skeptically. “So, this is it? We just avoid traps and head to the boss room? That’s what’s been giving you trouble all this time?”

  “It’s not just avoiding traps,” Thomas scolded. “There are dozens of them. You need to follow my steps exactly.”

  Lilith suddenly seemed incredibly interested in the conversation, and Thomas noticed an unusual sparkle in her eye that hadn’t been there before. “The way the traps must have worked in combination with the guards . . . Having to watch your step while still fighting tough enemies? Lucas really is a devious dungeon lord,” she commented.

  “He is definitely one to be feared,” Thomas agreed. “No group has successfully cleared this dungeon since it reappeared under his control. Even the Golden Eyed Guardians rerolled to fight him and lost. He is not an enemy to be taken lightly.” But they lost because they didn’t know about the traps. Thomas had watched their video intently, and he had also watched dozens of other player-made videos that had been submitted to the forums. He had looked up every bit of information that he could possibly scrounge up and memorized it all. He knew exactly where they all were.

  “Here I am,” Derrick called out as he emerged from the water, all five backpacks with him. “I hate swimming with this much weight--if it could be called swimming. I had to walk across the floor and climb up the ladder. How much stuff do you punks have in your packs?”

  “Nothing more than the tools of my affection,” Lilith said. She snatched her bag away from Derrick and then trudged ahead without waiting for the others.

  “What’s her deal?” Derrick asked Thomas in a hushed whisper.

  Thomas shrugged. “She’s probably just excited to meet Lucas.”

  “I am too,” Derrick said, talking a little faster than the others. “When he first appeared on the scene after killing off Kegan, the noble who previously occupied the area, I thought it was pretty cool. Then, when he saved Rowland from a rebellion and took out Dray von Maidbanger, the two head honchos on the island, and consolidated their territories into his own, I was like ‘Whaaaa, plot twist! How you do me like that, bro?! Don’t advance so much before I get a chance to remake!’”

  Thomas opened his mouth for a second but then closed it without saying anything. He truthfully didn’t know how to respond to that. “Now, remember: You guys need to follow my steps exactly,” Thomas cautioned the three remaining party members. “One wrong step will get you killed.”

  They all nodded, and Oceanus said, “Right.”

  Thomas led the way, creeping along through Lucas the Murderer’s empty manor, doing everything he could in order to not make a sound. The aged walls w
ere lined with stubby candles that could actually be lit to provide a small modicum of light, but he was intently focused on the floor. The traps weren’t generally hard to spot since they stood out from the rest of the flooring, which looked exactly like something expected from a forty-year-old house that had never been swept. In contrast, the “dangerous” tiles looked like an automatic vacuuming Blumba had gotten stuck directly over them and cleaned them to the point that it threatened to peel away the varnish on the wood.

  Thomas reached a corner and cautiously peeked around it. He hadn’t unlocked any of his class’s stealth techniques yet since he had ignored the trainer’s arduous prerequisite fetch quests in order to rush and reach this dungeon, but past experience with his Paladin before rerolling had taught him to be sneaky. Stealth was a necessity in this world, and dungeons were no exception, no matter what class he played. Every single person in a smaller guild would eventually be forced to learn how to move stealthily. They had to practice shifting their weight from the right foot to the left over and over again, never allowing a jerking motion to create even the slightest creak in a floorboard. They had to learn to set their foot down before putting any weight on it, to wrap cloth over the bottoms of their shoes to dampen the sound even further, and to hold their breath when peeking around corners. It was survival. They either learned how to sneak around, or they would never have a chance to enter the dungeons where the most-valuable quests and resources were.

  “Hey, what’s with the treasure over there?” the Dwarf asked, pulling Thomas back to the task at hand.

  Thomas snapped back to reality and saw that they had almost reached their destination and that the Dwarf was gesturing through an open door.

  “No, don’t do that,” Thomas warned, bringing them all to a halt. “Don’t go near it.”

  “Why not?” Derrick asked. “We can get it! Trust me. I’m an expert at this.”

  “It’s trapped; you’ll just die,” Thomas warned again, trying once more to urge his ally to halt. But it was too late. The Dwarf had a greedy glint in his eye that Thomas recognized.

  “Just watch,” the Dwarf said. He took something out of his pocket and threw it at the chest. The chest was knocked back two feet, and Thomas heard a loud click. In the next instant, the room was filled with arrows shot from opposite walls.

  “See, I did it!” Derrick proclaimed proudly. “Now, we can go get the loot.”

  “Don’t,” Thomas warned again. They were so close to the boss door that he didn’t want to take any chances. She’s just ahead! Stay focused! He was so close that he could practically scream in frustration, but he never had a chance.

  Before Thomas could even say another word, Oceanus darted ahead, his long lizard tail cutting an S-shaped trail through the dust behind him as he rushed toward the treasure chest. “The Dwarf is right, it’s all--”

  Another series of arrows shot out as soon as he stepped into the room, butchering Oceanus right where he stood.

  Thomas sighed. “There is more than one trap in that room. It’s a huge issue; it always kills several of our players.”

  “. . . That freaking idiot,” Janet grumbled. “Why can’t he chase money that adamantly in real life? Then we wouldn’t be using discount modules at the cafe on weekends to play these games.”

  “Cafes are the economical way to do it, though,” Derrick said. “You can’t be wasting money in real life or in the game.”

  “Yeah, but I’d like to game in my own home. I’m always worried someone will steal my stuff while I’m in the dive machine. It always feels so sketchy since we have to take all of our clothes off every time we get in . . . even with the door locked . . .”

  “But you’ll save more money than you'll ever carry on you, so don’t complain. Your man is doing it right,” Derrick insisted.

  “Don’t try to make excuses for him,” Janet said, shaking her head. “Let’s just go finish this quest so we can get that gold and move on.”

  “This time, don’t touch anything,” Thomas said, pushing forward with the group. “This whole place is a giant trap that Lucas designed to suck away all of our time and money by forcing us to pay for repairs and better gear and items every time we die.”

  They walked around the corner where the guards usually popped out, but no one appeared. Thomas pushed forward cautiously, confused once again by the missing guards and expecting them to show up and ambush the group at any moment, but the party made it to the giant double doors that led to the throne room without anyone ever appearing.

  Lilith was waiting for them there, twirling a blade in her hand as she stared at the door, and she gave the group a displeased look as they approached.

  “There were four of you,” she said impatiently. “Where is the would-be dragon?”

  “A trap got him,” Derrick said, lowering his head in shame. If Oceanus hadn’t been faster than Derrick, then Derrick would have died instead.

  “Idiot. This should still be enough though. Can you tank?” she asked the Dwarf.

  The Dwarf pulled out his one-handed axe and a shield. “I can hold Abaddon’s gates in check for you, lass,” he said with the worst attempt at a Scottish accent that Thomas had ever heard. “I swear it by the hairs on my beard.”

  Lilith pursed her lips for a second and then nodded, stashing her dagger away and pulling out a bow. “You’ll do then.”

  Thomas wasn’t comfortable with a bow at all and specialized in daggers, which he pulled out gleefully. “When the fight starts, you take out the Naga with the bow in the back. I’ll handle the backstabbing Were-Fox, and you”--he looked over at the magic-wielding lizard girl--“handle Lucas. You need to hit him before he finishes his speech, or else he’ll have one of us mind-controlled. That magic is deadly and will wreck our entire composition, so attack as fast as possible with a Fire spell and then try to follow it up with whatever you can. He is very good at mind magic, but not so great at the rest. His other spells, like the Lighting Pillars he calls down, take too long to cast. Just be fast. And whatever you do, don’t use an area-of-effect spell. You might hurt my princess.”

  “Got it,” Janet said in unison with the Dwarf.

  “Just don’t die too fast,” Lilith said directly to Thomas.

  As the tank, Derrick moved to the front so that he could enter first. “By my axe, it’s time to show this villain his maker!” He shoved the doors open with a massive push, and the group rushed through.

  But no one was there. The room was completely empty. Everyone was missing.

  “What’s going on?” Derrick asked, dropping the horrible accent.

  “I don’t know,” Thomas said, looking around desperately. “This isn’t right. This isn’t what we’re supposed to see. Where is he?!” Desperation filled his voice as Thomas panicked. “Where the hell is my princess?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to say this, but your princess is in another castle,” a quiet feminine voice said from behind one of the pillars.

  “Show yourself!” Thomas demanded, gripping his knives tightly. I’ve come too far; I’ve trained too hard to be denied!

  “Gladly,” she said. “But first, could you put down your weapons? I’m just a mere serving girl--a simple maid with information.”

  Thomas looked over at Janet and Lilith, the two ranged members of his party, and watched as they lowered their staff and bow respectively.

  “Our weapons are down,” Thomas called out. “You can come out.”

  “Ah . . . Thank you.” A second later, a beautiful Alfar girl in a French maid outfit appeared from behind a giant column. “It’s my pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Hanna, Lucas’s maid and trusted servant. I’ve been tasked with finding a Human suitable to take Lucas’s place and manage this establishment,” she said, bowing her head.

  “What do you want?” Thomas asked quickly. “Where is your master?”

  “I just said what I wanted.” The young girl stepped back, moving closer to the pillar. “Please don’t bully me, mister. I rea
lly am defenseless. I’m only asking that you listen patiently and don’t shoot the messenger.”

  What is she up to? Thomas wondered.

  “Lucas is looking for someone to take over?” Lilith asked incredulously. “But that means that we would have to join the Imperium, doesn’t it? Is that even possible?”

  “You . . .” The maid took a breath as if to gather herself and then continued. “You may join. He cannot.” She pointed directly at Thomas. “He’s already joined the rebellion, so he and the other two can tag along or stay in your party, but as non-Humans, those will not be able to attain proper citizenship within the Imperium. They will be considered servants like myself at best.”

  “Excellent!” Lilith said, putting away her bow completely. “And does joining the Imperium force me to stay here? Or can I leave this place after I join?”

  The maid looked confused by the question. “Umm . . . well . . . I guess you wouldn’t have to stay. Since you’d be a member of the Imperium, you could go to any of the Imperium’s territories . . .”

  “What are you doing, lass?” Derrick questioned. “Think of the honor of people and stop asking ridiculous questions. Let’s kill this wench and take her booty! By my beard, that’s the only route for us!”

  “She’s just getting information for the forums,” Janet said. “Let her finish the questions. Information regarding Lucas can sometimes be sold for a premium.”

  “Joining the Imperium is rather simple,” the maid continued calmly. “All you have to do is kill the non-Humans that came with you. Personally, as a non-Human myself, I find this act barbaric, but it’s needed as a testament of your loyalty to the Imperium. If you do this, you’ll not only have the right to inherit Lucas’s dungeon, but you’ll also be granted the rank of a soldier in the Imperium. It’s rather troublesome if you do this, however, because then your rank would be higher than mine. I am, after all, just Alfar scum to everyone in the Imperium but that sack of potatoes and my master.”