The Systemic Lands (Dark Progressive LITRPG)

Amy

"Good morning, Abdul," I greeted the soldier standing guard in the sitting room.

"Good morning, Amy," he greeted me back. "Anything specific for today's breakfast, or stick to the meal rotation?" he asked me.

"I am fine with what is being served, but is it really mystery eggs? They tasted like chicken eggs?" I asked, since I had tried different kinds of eggs before.

"Best not to ask where the food comes from or the waste goes," he replied. I nodded at this. We had become friends while I had been sitting around. After my questions had been answered, there was nothing to do but wait for Emperor Michael to return.

I almost asked them to contact him, but I had seen him recently this summer. While it might have been a long time for him, I needed to try and understand this place first. I still didn't get all the terms, but at least I knew what grinding meant now.

He was always into games and reading, now life was a game and I was happy he was doing so well. The murders and battles, I wasn't sure about. While I would love my son regardless, I was concerned about what he had been doing in this place and the choices he had to make.

When I finally saw him again, I would give him a hug first thing, and then listen. He was always so headstrong as a kid. I smiled at the thought. There was talk about possibly seeing more important people, but Sargent Paulski had nipped that idea in the bud.

If I was Michael's mother, then he would have the final say about what would happen to me. Anyone else acting would be inappropriate. If I wasn't his mother then it would put people in an awkward position after they had tried to cozy up to me. That was why I was being kept sequestered for my sake and theirs.

It was incredibly boring, but the company wasn't too bad. I had gotten an escort up on the roof of the palace the day before and it was a sight to see the sunken city. Apparently it hadn't always been like this, but the last monster that had killed a bunch of people had liquified everything, and caused the city to sink while it was shielded.

All of that sounded like complete nonsense except for how seriously everyone was treating the situation. The soldiers rotated in and out on a set schedule, but Abdul would keep me company in the mornings. I began wondering what was on the breakfast rotation for today when I heard shouting outside my suite. "Amy, please back into the bedroom," Abdul said while gesturing at me to move in that direction.

"What is going on?" I asked.

"Once you are in the bedroom, I will check. Probably nothing," he said right before there a loud boom. The floor shook slightly along with everything else. The door slammed open and Captain Mary staggered in. I gasped my mouth in shock. One of her arms and part of her face was blown away.

"Sec…" she then toppled over. Abdul already had his sword out as more explosions sounded out. He had also picked up his shield and was standing between me and the open doorway.

"Suffering eternal!" a man rushed and screamed. I heard an explosion as Abdul moved in front of me and blocked with his shield. There was a blinding white light. I blinked the spots out of my eyes and stumbled back. It took me a moment to recognize what I was seeing.

I puked my guts out. It was horrible. Captain Mary, that proud woman, had her body splattered about. Abdul was missing his arm, and a chunk of his body. His shield didn't stop the attack. There was a hole in the floor to the room below. Blood dripped from around the room. Whose blood and bits of body was it? I couldn't' say.

"Why?" I wanted to say but I was terrified. There were more explosions and I heard shouting. I tried to turn around and open the door to my bedroom, but my body wouldn't move. This was horrible. I felt tears run down my face. These people had just died, just like that.

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Abdul had hopes of becoming Captain one day and getting a good grinding spot. Captain Mary kept to herself mostly, but she enjoyed having tea with others and enjoyed serving me as she did a tea ceremony. Now they were dead. Just like that, blow to bits.

"Suffering eternal!" I heard a scream and there was another blinding white explosion outside my room.

"Ranged unit to the front, summoners cover our flanks! Advance!" I heard Sargent Paulski shout outside my room. I looked up as a group of monsters and then soldiers advanced past my entrance. The Sargent turned into the room and saw me.

"Quickly, mam, you need to get up. We need to move now. The Imperial Palace is compromised." I looked up in a daze. She reached down and hoisted me up by my armpit. When had I fallen to the floor?

"Suffering eternal!" there was a scream outside the room and another explosion.

"Keep up the pressure. Formation gamma two, advance with the summons!" There was another shout as I was lifted up by the small Sargent and carried up. Several soldiers fell in around us.

"VIP secure Lieutenant," Sargent Paulski said.

"Good thing we moved on her first. We make for the emergency bunker and the resonance stones, clear a path," the Lieutenant was just finished speaking when his body exploded in a torrent of blood. The monsters disappeared and several more soldiers suddenly exploded.

"A shame," a man stepped around a corner. He was Asian I could tell that much, but he wasn't wearing a color coded uniform like everyone else. He was dressed in gray with a black dragon stitched onto his clothing. I had heard about that. I was set down as the Sargent turned and drew her sword.

"Run! Run-"

"Exsanguination," the man calmly said and gestured at the Sargent. She didn't even have a chance to scream. Blood poured over me as I tried to retreat, but my limbs refused to move. Somehow I was frozen in place.

"Why?" I asked through my clenched jaw.

"Why?" The man gave me a look and gestured upwards with his hand. I was forced back onto my feet once more. "Because I am forced to. And so the serpent became a dragon by sheer luck. All my hard work and it is ruined. Not because of a scheme, or plan, but because I am capable!" I didn't understand what he was saying, but he clearly killed all the soldiers and was a bad person. I felt the pressure lighten on my jaw

"And you had to kill all of them?" I asked as he gave me a look that parents give to scold their misbehaving children.

"We all have our roles to play, even in the roles that will lead to our death. I was told to take you alive. Well congratulations, alive you shall remain." He turned and set off. I was being dragged behind him by some invisible force. "A duet until the end."

"What did my son do to you?" I asked as we traversed the blood splattered hallways.

"To me? Ruin my life. Though I can't blame him. As much as I would want to hate him, it isn't logical. Instead, I am trapped. While you might not see the chains that bind me now, they are real. If you somehow survive, what killed me was kindness." He shook his head. "And no, you don't with those summons. Disjoint." There was a scream in the distance.

"What did you do?" I frowned at the man as I forced the words out. If I was going to die, I would die with my head held high.

"Just a remote attack imparting curse damage. A horrible way to go as your body rips itself apart. A quaint skill that is useful in experiments. Disrupting connections that energy has formed. Bad if it happens inside of you. If you are alive by the end, then you are either much stronger or luckier than I thought. Human bodies are fragile you know." I tried to process all that as we continued to move through the palace.

"Where are we going? What is happening to me?" I asked.

"You are going to someone who wants you. As for what happens, well that is not up to me," the man replied.

"My name is Amy, and you?" I asked.

"A dead man. That is all that is left. All my hard work was utterly pointless for this moment." He swiped upwards as a monster shimmered into existence and then turned to dust. "I would tell you to shut up and follow, but you are being invited as a guest."

I was a prisoner of an insane terrorist apparently. I didn't know what to do. There were more explosions in the distance as we made our way through parts of the Imperial Palace I hadn't been to yet. Who screams 'Eternal Suffering' as a death phrase? That seemed completely nonsensical.

"Don't cry. This was going to happen regardless, but you made it too tempting. I call it idiotic. But I am not in charge. This entire thing is amateur hour. I suggested killing Michael after he confirmed the sphere was gone, but don't listen to the expert who has been doing shit like this longer than you have been alive. But I couldn't get that lucky."

Whoever was fully in charge had a bone to pick with me. "Who do you work for?" I asked.

"None of that now, otherwise I will force you to shut up. I work for myself at the end of the day. One way or the other this is going to end poorly," the man replied with a sigh as I continued to be dragged long.