Tower of Avarice: A LitRPG story

The interior of the palace was a labyrinth of opulence and death. Its corridors stretched endlessly in a web of gilded passageways, arched ceilings and walls etched with magical symbols. Chandeliers made of crystal and gold swayed gently overhead, disturbed by the rush of movement below. The silence inside was shattered by the pounding of boots against the polished floor.

There was a sudden 'click' that echoed through the hallway. A section of the wall shuddered, then exploded outward, sending a cascade of razor-sharp metal discs whirling through the air.

The leading figure, a young man with sharp eyes and a rifle gripped in his hands, dived forward and rolled beneath the deadly swarm as the discs embedded themselves into the wall next to him with a sickened 'crack.'

Without pausing, Greg snapped his weapon upward and fired a single shot. The bullet struck a hidden rune on the ceiling, shattering the magical glyph before it could activate the next mechanism. Although it had been obscured from sight, his eyes had been enhanced by his discipline so that very few things could be concealed from him.

Behind him was Alivia with a deck of cards fanned out in one hand. She moved with a different kind of precision. The marble floor beneath her trembled, shifting into a mosaic of rising spikes, each one laced with an eerie green glow. She flicked a card into the air, and as it tumbled downwards, a pulse of violet energy radiated outward.

The spike halted mid-rise; their energy drained to nothingness. With a satisfied smirk, she plucked the card from the air and slipped it back into the deck as if nothing had happened.

The last of the trio barely seemed to be moving at all, yet the dangerous traps bent around her like water diverting from a stone. A massive, golden statue at the far end of the corridor groaned to life, its jewelled eyes flickering with an ominous glowing light.

With a single thought, the Psion sent a wave of force rippling forward. The statue lurched backward, its own weight becoming its downfall as it collapsed in a cascade of stone and shattered glass.

But the palace was relentless. Hidden crossbows snapped into place, launching bolts with mechanical precision. Greg weaved between them, his weapon shooting streaks of burning light as he took them down before they could reload.

The floor shifted beneath them, revealing a yawning chasm, but the deck-wielding Drafter sent out another card and a bridge of glowing energy formed just long enough for them to cross.

"Don't slow down now, we're almost there." Rehn assured the group. She could see the entirety of the palace in her mind's eye and had been directing them perfectly. While the traps hindered her sight, the path was still clear to her.

The palace trembled around them as if it were alive like its ancient bones were groaning under the force of the chaos outside. The once-pristine walls of the corridor cracked with a spiderweb of fractures that raced up pillars, and chunks of debris rained down on them from above.

The chandeliers swayed violently, and their delicate crystals smashed against each other, shattering the precious materials. A deep roar echoed through the corridors, so massive and primal that the air vibrated with its fury.

The sound was followed by a deafening explosion that erupted somewhere beyond the palace walls, sending a shockwave rippling through the structure. Dust billowed from the ceiling, and the floor beneath them quaked, nearly knocking them off their feet.

Greg steadied himself a pillar just as another explosion rocked the palace, this one much closer. The force caused an entire section of the ceiling to give way. A rain of broken stones came crashing down, forcing the trio to dive forward to avoid being crushed.

"Is Mathew trying to get us killed!" Greg shouted in order to be heard over the noise.

"We need to hurry; otherwise, the whole place is going to come crashing down around us!" Alivia added as she looked around to get her bearings through the dust and smoke. As she did so, she saw outside the palace through a large crack in the wall.

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It was nightmarish.

Dark clouds churned in an unnatural storm; lightning arced across the sky like veins of fire. The sun was obscured, and something moved in the darkness. It was a shadow too large to be real, shifting with unnatural speed. There was another roar, even louder than before and a pillar of fire shot into the sky.

Shuddering at the display, Alivia turned her head away and focused on the task in front of her. Statues along the corridor had toppled; some had shattered on impact, and others revealed hidden mechanisms beneath their cracked surfaces.

As the palace crumbled around them, traps sprung to life erratically, their precise timings thrown into disarray. The floor split, revealing bottomless voids, only to seal once more. Aliva cursed under her breath as she saw that the archway they had been headed toward before the explosions had been buried under slabs of stone.

"We don't have time for this!" Greg yelled over the chaos as he fiddled with the rifle held in his arms with practiced movements. Alivia could feel the mana in the air being drawn into the weapon, and the runes on the side of the barrel began to turn red and glow brightly.

Greg raised the rifle and pointed it at the blocked archway.

"Are you insane?! We're out to rob the place, not kill anyone!" Alivia screamed. She was about to step forward and stop Greg when Rehn placed her hand on her shoulder.

"All the guards between us and the Relic have evacuated." Rehn advised.

Greg planted his feet against the trembling ground and braced the sleek, rune-etched rifle against his shoulder. The weapon hummed with power, and as he flicked a switch along the side, the hum deepened into a growl. The air around the rifle crackled from the raw energy coiled within the gun. Tendrils of violet lightning crawled across its surface.

The runes brightened to a searing white as the charge inside it reached its peak, and the space around the weapon warped from the gathered force. Greg exhaled sharply and pulled the trigger.

A blinding torrent of energy erupted from the barrel and lanced forward in a concentrated beam of pure destruction. The recoil sent a deep tremor up Greg's arm, but he held firm as the blast met the obstruction ahead.

The instant the energy touched the stone, it evaporated. The impact point flared with intense heat, and the entire structure disintegrated in an instant, leaving behind only a glowing imprint of violet light, an afterimage that stayed in their eyesight for a long moment afterwards.

The beam didn't stop there; it carried on as it pierced through layers of the place, leaving a streak of purple radiance in its wake. The sound of the shot came half a second later like a god striking the earth. A deep, reverberating boom shook dust from the ceiling and sent a shockwave rippling through the corridor.

The rifle's energy slowly dissipated, and its runes dimmed as the barrel smoked with residual heat. Greg lowered the weapon with a satisfied smirk.

"Path's clear. Let's move." He muttered as he turned to look at the pair next to him. Both had looks of astonishment on their faces. Clearly, they hadn't expected him to be capable of unleashing such terrifying power.

The trio advanced through the scorched tunnel left in the wake of the rifle's fury. The stone still sizzled, and heat radiated from the smooth, melted edges. The air buzzed with residual energy.

Beyond the tunnel, the passageway widened into a vast chamber that they knew to be the heart of the Temple. The ceiling arched high above them, supported by towering pillars carved with symbols that thrummed with power.

At the center of the chamber, bathed in a glow of divine light, was an altar made of stone. Aether was thick in the air, and a swirling blue mist curled along the ground like a living thing. It smelled of spice that burned their nostrils when they breathed it in.

Atop the altar was the Relic they sought. It shimmered in the light as it shifted between material and immaterial. At one angle, it looked like a sphere of polished crystal, while at another, it seemed like a jagged shard of condensed starlight. Pulses of energy rippled outward from it at irregular intervals.

"Great, let's grab it and go find Mathew! The sooner we get out of here, the better. I don't want to meet-" Alivia was interrupted when, without warning, the far wall detonated.

A shockwave of dust and shattered stone ripped through the chamber, sending cracks racing up the towering pillars. The explosion's force howled through the air, and it sent swirling currents of Aether spiralling in frantic patterns.

A figure came hurtling through the smoking breach. His body slammed into the ground with a thunderous impact, carving a jagged trench through the stone floor as he tumbled across the chambers. Shards of marble and glowing embers scattered before he finally skidded to a halt.

It was Mathew, and he wasn't moving.

The trio froze for a heartbeat before Rehn rushed forward to check on him. Deep gashes covered his body, and his breathing was ragged and uneven.

"That's one hell of an entrance, Mathew." Alivia commented as she let out a low whistle.

Mathew let out a weak, pained cough and tried to push himself up, but barely managed to move his head.

"He's coming. What are you waiting for?! Grab the Relic!" Mathew rasped his voice a hiss as the pain made it difficult to speak. The chamber trembled again, and dust sifted down from the ceiling. Heavy, deliberate footfalls echoed toward them.

A shadow appeared at the hole in the wall, and Greg didn't hesitate to grab the relic and toss it and his rifle to Alivia before running forward and picking up Mathew. Slinging his injured friend over his shoulder, Mathew's opponent was just about to enter the Chamber when the Elevator appeared with a loud 'ding.'

Running inside, they felt a surge of relief as the doors closed, protecting them from the wrath of a demigod.