Blood for Power: A LitRPG Apocalypse

One by one, the corpses came to life and stood up. Their eyes dead and lifeless. Their limbs and faces lined with thin blue veins. Something was pumping inside of them and it wasn’t blood.

The dead girl by our feet continued ringing. The sound was coming from inside her stomach, but we didn’t have time to investigate it. I told Hugo keep an eye on her in case she moved and turned my attention to the crowd of zombies. Their movements were slow and stiff, but I wasn’t waiting for them to attack first.

I activated two hemorrhage gates. Or at least I tried to, but the connection wouldn’t form. Hugo was having similar problems with his spirits.

“I can’t summon anything!” he cried.

I glanced at the blazing magical symbols on the walls and grimaced. “It’s got to be the room’s ward enchantment. It’s suppressing some of our powers.”

I did not feel myself become weaker when I entered the room. In fact, I felt as strong as ever, so perhaps it only affected certain abilities. I had to know what other limitations this place was imposing on us.

I drew my blades and tried an Air Slash attack, which didn’t work either.

“We can only use physical attacks,” I said.

I was undaunted. This wouldn’t be the first time I’d taken on a horde of zombies like this.

“Oh well, that’s great for some of us!” he snapped.

The Air Slash attacks were pure magic once they left my blades, but I wondered if magical abilities that generated a physical response were exempt from the wards.

“Try that wind attack of yours.”

He said nothing and took off into the air. Part of me suspected that he might have forgotten about the ability, but I kept my mouth shut and watched. Hugo hovered above the zombies, flapping his wings. The flaps got faster and faster until a cone of wind blasted out of him and knocked five zombies to the ground.

“Damn, that felt really good,” he said.

I grinned. “See, we can take them.”

I cut the head off the one closest to me. Its body remained standing which was slightly unnerving, but I received a message telling me what it was.

*Beast Identified* [Cadaver Specimen 082 (Common)] Level 105 - Intruders have been detected and the security system has been activated. All specimens will engage the security protocol.

Okay, that level is a little higher than what I was hoping for such a large crowd, but it was doable. The description accompanying it gave me pause though. Is them coming alive the security protocol?

*DING!* You have slain [Cadaver Specimen 082 (Common)] Level 105 – Experience Points and Currency Acquired.

That was strange. The headless cadaver was still standing and its hands were twitching. I checked my stats. Killing the cadaver specimen had earned me a single experience point and one gold coin. Far too low a sum for a creature of that level. Something wasn’t right here.

The cadavers Hugo had knocked over calmly got back on their feet. There was no hint of aggression in them over being attacked. They merely returned to standing in their original positions.

I backed away from them and warned Hugo not to attack again.

Then, in perfect synchronicity, all of them turned to face the doorway.

“What’s happening?” Hugo asked.

I didn’t know. I could only stare as the cadavers raised their hands and shoved them into their chests. My stomach twisted as I heard flesh being torn. They dug inside themselves and each of them ripped out a palm sized mechanical device. Small torn tubes dangled from it leaking blue liquid. It looked like a replacement for their hearts.

One by one, they crushed them. A puff of blue smoke was expelled. It faded into the air, and then the cadavers collapsed.

Hugo flew over to check some of the bodies and I did the same, looking for clues. “They came back to life just to destroy their mechanical hearts?” he asked.

The ringing in the dead girl stopped, and we froze.

A tense few seconds followed. Then a guttural roar emanated from the darkness beyond the doorway.

“I’m guessing that’s the security protocol,” I said.

The creature stomped into the room. My first thought was that it was an orc on steroids. A giant, muscular brute standing twenty feet tall. It was shirtless and wore nothing but torn shorts and a set of manacles with broken chains rattling as it stepped forward. Cadavers on the floor in front of it were stepped on and squished into a pulpy mess.

*Beast Identified* [A Scathing Abomination (Rare)] Level 165 - Another failed experiment, given new purpose as a last resort security system. It will purge all living things within the containment room. A despised creature created from hatred, forbidden spells and rare chemical compounds. Like its creator, it is infused with rage and will blindly attack any living being on sight.

A glowing barrier formed over the doorway behind it, trapping us inside.

The Abomination had the same blue veins running down its body. This was another corpse that had been brought back to life, only it was on a much bigger dosage than whatever the cadavers had been given.

“What’s the plan?” Hugo asked.

“The cadavers ripped something out of their chests that reanimated them. I’m willing to bet this big guy has something similar in his chest.”

“So I distract him while you go for the heart?”

The Abomination fixed its gaze on us and snarled.

“Sure, let’s go with that,” I said.

Hugo flew left and I went right.

The Abomination picked up a corpse in each hand. He tossed the first one at Hugo, who was mid-flight and didn’t have time to dodge it. The bird’s bubble shield formed just before he was hit. The dead body slammed into the shield and knocked Hugo back across the room.

I kept running. A body was thrown my way. I jumped over it and sprinted towards the hulking figure. It snorted and snarled, but I wasn’t intimidated. Its movements appeared slow, likely weighed down by unnatural bulk. I can take him.

Of course, having fought a regular orc, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Their skin was tougher than almost anything I’d previously come across, and the Abomination looked tougher still.

I reached for the Blade Weaver ability and felt the enchantment coat my sword and knife with magic that would enhance their cutting power. It took a decent chunk of my energy to use this ability, and had my fight with the orcs in the graveyard run any longer, I would’ve almost certainly been forced to use it. Now with the Abomination I wasn’t taking any chances.

The creature tried to grab me as I got close, its chain swinging in its wake. I jumped up, and plunged my sword down into its chest. I felt the blade sink a couple of inches deep and then stop.

The beast backhanded me, and I flew back across the room. Somewhere along the way, my knife had slipped out of my hand and I landed hard. Groaning, I spat out blood and laid there trying to collect myself. His fist was like being hit by a truck. The pain was overwhelming. In that moment I didn’t want to get up but I had to.

“Lucas, don’t move!” Hugo yelled.

Trusting him, I stayed prone on the floor. There was a roar of frustration far behind me. I couldn’t see what was happening, but it appeared that the abomination couldn’t see me either. If it had poor eyesight, then I must have blended right in with the other dead bodies.

“Ah!” Hugo squawked.

I heard a sound that could only be described as meat exploding and risked a look behind me.

The creature was now fixated on Hugo and had thrown another body at him. This time, Hugo had used his Wind Burst to push himself out of the way and another body had exploded against the wall.

The crow’s breathing was getting heavy. He wouldn’t be able to keep this up forever.

The Abomination still had my sword sticking out of its chest, but there was no blood. In fact, it didn’t seem bothered at all that it was there. It quickly gave up on throwing things and made a blind charge at Hugo with its hands outstretched.

The crow waited until the last second before wind dashing away. The Abomination crashed into the wall, causing it to crack. For a moment, I thought it might break the enchantment and give us more of our powers, or at least allow us out of this room. But sadly, the enchantment held.

The abomination grunted and turned, scanning the room until our eyes locked.

I moved first despite the pain, running to the other side of the room. The beast chased after me, crushing bodies to a pulp left and right.

The only card I had left to play was using Crimson Domain, providing it wasn’t blocked by the wards. I started to activate it. I could feel it building. Finally, some good news. I just needed the beast to get closer so that I could trap it inside.

As the blood pooled at my feet, the creature came to a halting stop. It sniffed the air and turned away from me to focus on Hugo.

I cancelled the ability, and the beast turned sharply back to me.

It wasn’t out of intelligence. The reanimated creature was running on instinct and whatever blue substance was pumping through its veins. Somehow that instinct had alerted it to my trap, and it knew enough to stay away.

That was good. It saw Crimson Domain as a threat. I just had to get closer and keep it close for the trap to work.

Hugo learned of my plan and got into position. I kept my hands empty and backed myself into a corner until the beast was right in front of me.

“Hugo, now!” I cried.

He flew in from behind with my knife in his beak and scratched at the creature’s head with his talons. It did no damage, but its purpose as a distraction worked flawlessly.

The Abomination reached up to try and swat Hugo away. His reactions were slow, and while his hands were raised, I dashed forward to grab the chains hanging from its wrists. Before it realized what was happening, I ran around it and pulled the chains tight.

On cue, Hugo dropped the knife to me. I caught it, and with Blade Weaver, I nailed the chain to the floor. A second knife was quickly pulled from my inventory. It was nothing special. Just a cheap weapon I’d accidentally picked up while collecting a body. I just had to hope it would hold.

I put the point of the blade through the second chain and stabbed down into the stone. The knife sank in, locking the chain to the ground.

The whole process took less than two seconds and by the time the Abomination realized it had been chained down again, it was too late.

The creature roared and struggled against its bonds.

“You think those chains will hold?” Hugo asked.

“I think—”

Both knives snapped in two. The Blade Weaver enchantment had left shortly after I’d let go of the blades.

The Abomination swung the chains around at me like a weapon. I ducked under the first one, but the second caught my lower legs and knocked me down. As soon as I hit the floor, a giant fist came crashing down. I rolled away and felt the ground tremble as its fist smashed into where I’d just been.

“Hugo, stay back!” I warned.

I tried to get up, but my legs screamed at me to stop. The chain attack must have done more damage than I thought. Its hand was still next to me. I grabbed onto the creature’s thick arm as it lifted it up.

“What are you doing?” Hugo cried.

Something dumb. But I had to stay close. Had to keep a hold of him.

It tried to shake me loose from its arm. When that didn’t work, it bashed me into the wall. I let out a choked gasp as all the air rushed out of me. The pain was excruciating, but not as much as when it did it a second time. Still, I held on.

Suddenly, the Abomination rushed away to the other end of the room while I clung on. It hoped to get away, but it was too late. Blood pooled around our feet and darkness fell as I dragged the beast into my domain.

My body restored itself first to peak health, and then I leapt away from the creature. There was no reason to risk injury now by staying close. I landed fifty feet away and summoned several blood spikes.

They shot up from the ground to attack, but none could pierce its skin. It bellowed another challenge and charged at me.

I held my ground and raised my hand. I formed chains of blood this time. They rose from the floor and wrapped themselves around its arms and legs before going taught. Between its running momentum and the chains, the creature crashed to its knees. I cast another chain to wrap around its throat and squeezed. If I couldn’t cut it, then maybe suffocation would work.

Its muscles tensed as it bucked against the chains. One of them broke. I raised both hands, summoning more chains, and redoubled my focus to keep him contained. Even in my domain, I was struggling to hold him down.

That was when I saw it. Symbols faintly burning in the air behind him. Their image growing clearer. The wards on the chamber walls were breaking through. Cracks in the air appeared. My domain was breaking down.

The Abomination struggled again and another chain broke.

It would get free soon. I had to do something before then. I glanced at the Blood Orchard tree, but there was no fruit there yet. The only other weapon I had was my sword, which was still lodged in its chest.

Another chain broke, and then another. It snarled at me and I snarled back.

I ran madly towards it, and leaped up high while rotating my body to deliver a spinning kick onto the pommel of my sword. The force drove the blade deeper into its heart. The beasts blue eyes flashed brighter and then went dead.

*DING!* You have slain [A Scathing Abomination (Rare)] Level 165 – Experience Points and Currency Acquired.

*DING!* Class: [Blood Reaver] has reached level 119 – Experience Acquired.

Woah, I’d gained nine levels for killing that thing. I wanted to divvy up the points, but I had to get back to Hugo first and let him know that I was okay.

I returned to the chamber and wrenched my sword free. I noticed that the wards on the chamber wall were no longer glowing and the barrier blocking our exit was now gone.

“We should leave,” I told Hugo. “Whoever owns this place might’ve been alerted when the security system was activated.”

“Shouldn’t we fight them too?” he asked meekly.

I appreciated the enthusiasm, but we’d barely scrapped through in this last fight and there was another concerning thought.

“We might not be ready to fight whatever was using this thing as a guard,” I said, kicking the abomination’s corpse. Whoever owned this place could be worse. The time was right to regroup back at the apartment. Hugo nodded, looking relieved.

I collected the broken knives I’d lost on the off chance one of them could be repaired. The Viper Fang had seen me through a lot of battles, and I was sorry to see it go.

We were then about to leave, when the corpse from earlier started ringing again. In all the confusion, both of us had completely forgotten about it.

We looked at each other and Hugo gave me a ‘go ahead’ nod. I rolled my eyes. “Coward,” I muttered as I went to examine the corpse.

With my sword, I cut her open to reveal a small black phone that was ringing.

Reluctantly, I picked it up and answered. “Hello?”

“Finally,” said the Officiator. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for hours now.”