Tower of Avarice: A LitRPG story

The entire domain was in chaos.

The ground exploded the instant Mathew moved. He came down on the trio with the destructive force of a meteor. The Godslaying Blade of Wrath cleaved a rift through the air itself; it became a screaming arc of destructive mana aimed straight at Emily.

She barely had time to raise a glowing lattice of burning sigils as a barrier before the blow sent her flying backwards. Emily crashed into a floating slab of stone with a grunt of pain as she burst her way through it and skidded across the ground.

Louis was already in motion to defend her from any follow-up attacks. His own blade, sleek and forged for speed, met Mathew's next strike with a clash that rang like thunder. Sparks and raw mana exploded from the impact that sent a shockwave tearing through the landscape and blasting away debris.

The Prince of Francia parried another attack before ducking under a backhand swing that shattered a stone pillar behind him. Mathew responded with a flurry of rapid strikes that were all deflected with contemptuous ease.

The Apostle was faster and stronger than Louis, but the Prince was relentless. He slipped past killing blows by fractions of an inch, all in an effort to gain a slight edge against his opponent.

While Louis was guarding her, Emily struggled to her feet and wiped the blood away from the corner of her mouth. She didn't want to fight Mathew. Every part of her rebelled at the thought. But Mathew wasn't in his control of his actions. He would kill them all without hesitation because Mischievous Depravity ordered him to.

She raised both hands, and sigils ignited in the air in front of her. A storm of arcane energy surged outward in ribbons of blue-white flame that were shaped into spears. They struck Mathew in the side as he locked swords with Louis, but were ineffective against the thick barrier of mana he had surrounded himself with.

Mathew twisted slightly from the attack and used the energy to obscure his movements enough to slam his fist into Louis's chest, sending him flying like a ragdoll across the battlefield. The Godslaying Blade of Wrath pulsed with mana and was coated in white flames as Mathew focused his attention on Emily.

His eyes burned a bright, startling blue as he drew deeply on the mana inside him and swung the sword in a wide arc. The air split open as it passed, and a horizontal shockwave of pure, howling destruction erupted from the edge to streak toward her.

Reality buckled as the attack disrupted the fragile stability of the domain around them.

Emily raised her hands and screamed out the words of a counterspell as she sought to anchor herself in place with magic that scorched the ground around her with the intensity of its protective mana. The blast struck her with incredible force, but the barrier held, although the edges of her clothing and bits of her hair burned away in the inferno.

But then Lunara stepped forward.

The Celestial didn't run; she walked calmly with a radiance that shone brightly even as the world fell apart around her. She extended on of her long-fingered hands and spoke with a voice that sounded like a gong tolling across eternity.

"Stop!"

The Word of Power struck Mathew like an invisible wall. The pulse of his mana wavered and halted for a heartbeat. His actions froze, allowing Emily some relief from the torrents of burning energy and Louis to regain his feet and join her.

But it was just for a moment. Mathew frowned slightly, and a small jolt of anger and frustration swelled inside him. He refused to be caged like an animal. He cycled the mana inside his body quickly and forced himself to move before flinging a surge of destructive mana at Lunara. It was a jagged column of mana that roiled with red and black energy.

The Celestial responded by holding up her palm and gently commanding.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Banish."

A circle of silver light opened above her, and the destructive mana was swallowed by the Word of Power. It was unmade, undone and forgotten as if it had never been at all. The Celestial shook her head in disappointment.

"You were once capable of so much more, Student." Lunara chastised, and Mathew calmly raised his sword and rested it on his shoulder.

Lunara took a step toward him, her radiant presence still steady even after everything. Her eyes were locked on Mathew with unwavering intensity.

"You and Unyielding Declaration thought you took the Words of Power away from me. But Mischievous Depravity helped me find them again." Mathew whispered softly. He focused his mana and his will on the world around him, taking a breath before speaking once again.

"Let The Light Rot Where It Stands." Mathew commanded, and the world listened.

The sky above them died.

Sunlight dimmed to grey and then faded to black as a corrosive shadow spilled across the heavens above them. It wasn't ordinary darkness; it was corruption brought from the realm of the Outer Gods. A malignant void that dripped from the sky like oil and ate away reality itself.

It spread, and as it did so, the mana inside them refused to obey them. It was being drained away, and their magic failed. Emily cried out as she suddenly felt hollow inside, the vibrant energy replaced by something cold and quiet.

Louis dropped to one knee and clutched his sword in desperation as his strength fled his limbs.

Even Lunara, with her expertise in commanding the Words of Power, felt somewhat powerless against this strange verse that Mathew uttered. It was something outside the Song of Creation, and when she used a Word of Power to create a halo of pure white energy to shield herself and her companions, cracks spread on the barrier.

"Let The Fire Die And Never Return."

Everything suddenly stopped around them. The chaos paused, and the land stabilized, but heat vanished. Colours bled away until everything was silent and existed in shades of grey. The corrupted darkness gave way to an unnatural cold of entropy. The very idea of motion and time froze in place.

Their breath turned to shards of glass in their lungs. The world flickered in slow motion, and even energy itself forgot how to move. This was the cold of the last heartbeat before the end of the universe. The final stillness of the stars before they faded into eternal black.

Even Lunara reeled from the attack, and her barrier of light shattered in an instant. The Celestial was forced to draw more deeply on the Song of Creation, and a new shield appeared, this one shining with divine light.

Mathew's eyes, which had been glowing a bright blue, darkened and turned into black pits that lacked any emotion. It was as if the soul inside of him had been scraped raw and burned hollow.

He raised his voice for one final time.

"Let The Red Sun Rise and Burn Away the Lie of Mercy."

The sky split open, and a sun tore its way into existence. It wasn't the yellow colour of the celestial body that hung in the sky above Earth, but a sickly, angry and writhing crimson. It wasn't a life-giving object that drove back the darkness; it was a wound on the heavens that pulsed with malevolence. Its light was violent, and it ignited the horizon in rivers of flame.

Lunara fell to one knee as her barrier crumbled. The cold of the second verse had sapped all the heat of the world, only to return it tenfold. Her voice caught in her throat as she tried to speak another Word, but failed.

"Mathew!" Emily shouted through the searing wind.

"Stop! This isn't you!"

But Mathew didn't respond. He stood still and watched as the world turned to fire around them and the red sun blazed mercilessly above.

Just as the red sun began to pulse and expand like a malignant heart ready to burst across the sky, the air cracked with a sound like glass splintering. A tear appeared in the fabric of the domain, and a single object flew out, spinning end over end.

It was a card decorated in wild, shifting patterns of gold and violet that shimmered with light. As it flew through the air, it left a streak of prismatic motes of energy behind it like a comet.

The card struck Mathew in the chest, and a chime rang out, sharp and clear. In an instant, everything shattered. The red sun blinked out, and the entropy cracked like brittle ice. The corrosive darkness hissed and recoiled before vanishing entirely.

Reality snapped back like a taut rubber band, the sky turned blue, and the ground reformed around them. The battle between the gods still raged in the distance, but everything near the mortals stilled.

Mathew collapsed onto one knee as the Godslaying Blade of Wrath sunk into the ground beside him. His breathing was ragged, and he seemed exhausted. He barely looked up to see the young woman walking out of the rift.

Alivia held a deck of cards in her hands as she stepped toward Emily and helped her to her feet.

"I didn't believe it when I heard, Mathew. I can't believe how far you've fallen." Alivia scolded, and Mathew flinched slightly at the words. For a moment, Mathew's eyes flicked to Alivia's, and something painful passed through them before it was stifled.

"We need to push him to the brink, force him to draw on Mischievous Depravity's power." Emily whispered to Alivia, and the young woman nodded.

"Don't worry Mathew, we're going to save you." Alivia assured him, and Mathew shook his head slowly as he stood up and pulled his sword out of the ground.

"There's nothing left to save."