Times keeper 1 a litrpg.., p.24
Time's Keeper 1: A LitRPG Adventure, page 24
And just in time too. The palace guards burst into the palace, stumbling over one another. Their blades were drawn, but they didn’t pose much of a threat while Cedric and his party were accelerated.
Cedric and Walt rushed over to Myra, speeding across the room. Together, they descended the narrow, winding staircase, careful not to slip on the blood that’d gushed from the palace guard’s split belly.
As they descended further and further, dull voices echoed up to their ears, barely intelligible. Cedric couldn’t tell what they were saying, but he recognized the voice of Captain Hartvess.
And when they reached the bottom of the stairs, it was confirmed.
Hartvess barked his orders to a pair of guards of Aevelia. Guards who Cedric had served alongside. Guards who’d stood at the gates the first time the Empire marched against them.
They stood around a glowing orb about the size of a man’s head. Magic circled the orb, gushing from its cracks like smoke. Welded ancient steel was strapped over the glass orb, trying to contain the magic within.
And one of the men held his dagger over the orb, poised to pierce it and set the explosion off. Cedric stepped forward to stop him.
But they were too late. Even with Time Bend speeding him up, the man plunged his dagger into the orb with a sharp crack.
Light and heat filled the small storeroom.
Cedric clamped his eyes shut and called on Time Return, returning to the save point he’d set before.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself facing his friends, embroiled in the chaos of the city.
“Cedric?” Walt asked.
Cedric looked up, his fists clenched. He knew what he had to do now, he just had to do it. And this time, he didn’t have a save point to fall back on.
This time, he couldn’t fail.
Cedric held a hand out. “Walt, crossbow bolt.”
Walt narrowed his eyes, his brow furrowing. He glanced back at the northern wall. “But—”
“Bolt.” Cedric jabbed his hand forward. “I don’t have time to explain. Follow me.”
Walt reached into his pouch and handed Cedric a bolt. Cedric snatched it from Walt’s grip. Immediately, he began to call on Temporal Link, focusing on the crossbow bolt. When it glowed white, he snapped his attention over to Walt, applying his magic to him.
“Myra, carry Arcaeus,” Cedric said, still holding Walt and the crossbow in his focus.
Arcaeus shuffled over uncertainly, hopping onto Myra’s back. She hefted him up, a look of confusion on her face.
Once Arcaeus was held firm, Cedric aimed his focus at Myra, enveloping her and Arcaeus both in his spell’s grip. Finally, as before, he applied Temporal Link to himself.
His head pounded with the strain of splitting his focus. He wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand.
Without hesitation, he called on Time Bend. He didn’t have time to fiddle around with it, so he gritted his teeth and slowed the crossbow bolt, shoving as much magic into it as he could and a chunk of his lifespan to boot.
But this was life or death—stop Hartvess before he set off the explosion, or see Aevelia burn.
[Remaining lifespan: 29 years, 11 months, 3 days, 14 hours, 6 minutes, and 57 seconds. ]
The crossbow bolt shimmered with white light, which coalesced into a percentage hovering over it: -294%. And over Walt and Myra, he saw a steady +98%.
He’d pushed himself beyond what he could manage the last time, and he felt it.
His head spun and his organs twisted. Magic lashed against his control, spilling dangerously into his body.
But Cedric steeled himself. He had work to do.
“This way,” he managed, each syllable a pain.
They darted toward the palace, rushing through a world rendered slow by comparison. Walt and Myra had their heads on a swivel, taking in the experience. Cedric, however, was focused on the palace, his gaze locked and his mind sharpened on the task.
When they neared the gates, Cedric took a sharp turn, avoiding the gaze of the guards. He headed directly for the hole in the fence. No point wasting time on the guards.
Cedric shuffled through the narrow alleyway, then ducked into the hole. Walt and Myra contorted themselves into the hole awkwardly, still not used to being sped up, stumbling into the palace courtyard.
Cedric, however, was already racing toward the palace. In a blink, he reached the base of the stairs. In another, he was at the top. The world rushed by him in a blur, everything else rendered slow by comparison.
“Second door on the right!” Cedric called to his friends as they lagged behind him.
He rushed inside, bolting directly to the door in which they’d found the palace guard’s corpse, and pulled it open. Cedric stepped over the guard’s body as it fell in a slow arc. He raced down the stairs, almost leaping down them.
At the bottom, Hartvess and his men were carefully breaking the orb from a crate. Their faces, painted by the orb’s white light, languidly turned their heads to look at the base of the stairs.
But by the time they caught a glimpse of Cedric, their eyes widening, he was already making his move.
Cedric dashed forward, his hand reaching for Sylver. As he slipped Sylver from his sheath, afterimages broke off behind him.
He stepped up to a grunt who’d stabbed the orb last time and slashed Sylver in an upward arc, slicing his torso open. The man fell back slowly, his blood oozing out slowly.
Before the first man fell, Cedric attacked the second. He stabbed Sylver forward with deadly intent, landing in the man’s neck. He yanked Sylver free a moment later and spun with flourish, swiping his blade across.
Hartvess was reaching for the knife on his belt, but he had no hope of outpacing Cedric. Sylver’s tip met Hartvess’s neck, splitting his throat open.
With all three men fatally wounded, still hanging in the air and falling slowly, Cedric cut off his Time Bend.
A collective thud sounded as Hartvess and his grunts hit the ground. Their blood gushed onto the storeroom floor, the men gurgling.
The gentle whoosh in Cedric’s ears ceased with his magic, the world settling around him. The grizzly image of him cutting each man down in mere moments was replayed in a series of afterimages—ghostly recreations of Cedric in magical light.
Cedric’s, or, rather Sylver’s skill, Chrono-Shift had left the afterimages. It must’ve been activated automatically when he drew his blade.
Cedric had yet to try the ability out, but he was sure he’d need it before the day was done. Like Time Return, it too had a limited daily use—just once.
“Gods…” Walt stammered at the bottom of the stairs. “That becomes more impressive every time I witness it…”
Myra nodded, her gaze on the fallen men. “Does that mean I can stop being a gnome’s horse?”
Cedric turned to his friends. He nodded at Myra, and she threw Arcaeus off aggressively.
The gnome fell back, barely landing on his feet. He shot her an annoyed glare.
Cedric stepped up to the crate in which the magical device lay. Walt and Myra stepped up.
The three of them gazed at it, feeling themselves drawn into it, mesmerized by the flow of magic within the steel-cased glass. The light hit their faces, painting them a shimmering white.
“Ahem.” Arcaeus looked up at them.
Walt bent down and lifted the gnome up onto the crate on which the device rested.
As soon as Arcaeus saw it, he furrowed his brow. “Huh…”
“What is it?” Cedric asked.
“It’s… not ancient.” Arcaeus looked at Cedric. “My people did not make this. It’s crude, clumsy… and just look at the magical structure—or lack thereof, I should say.”
He paused.
“But nevertheless, whatever it is, it’s dangerous. The magical energy emanating from it is… violent. Destructive. If the outer casing is broken, Gods only know what’ll be unleashed.”
“Fire. Magical fire.” The terrible sight flashed before Cedric’s eyes.
He’d averted the explosion, but the horrors of watching Aevelia and its citizens burn was etched into his memory.
“Enough to destroy the entire kingdom.”
Walt edged away from the orb. “How do we disarm it?”
“I’ve got a better idea,” Cedric said. “The fire it unleashed almost destroyed Aevelia. Let’s see what it can do to an army.”
Chapter 16
“Where the bloody hells have you lot been?” Alwyn yelled, angrily descending a rickety ladder.
On the other side of the northern wall, the battle raged. Archers launched volley after volley. Aevelia’s bravest stood behind the wall with their blades drawn, ready to defend their home.
The army of men, mages, and arc-beasts thundered on the other side of the wall, a few feet beyond the wood. Their weapons pounded against the wall. Maces and hammers hit the wood, biting off chunks. The mages’ fire gushed over the top of the wall like ocean spray gushing over rocks.
“We were busy saving Aevelia,” Myra quipped proudly.
When Alwyn gave them a confused look, Cedric tapped the crate under his arm, glancing at the head-sized orb within.
“That bastard Hartvess was in league with the Empire,” he explained. “He was planning on blowing up Aevelia before the battle even began.”
Alwyn peered closer. “Blowing it up… with that?”
Cedric nodded.
“So you brought it here.” Alwyn pursed his lips. “With all the fire and arrows. How can you be sure it won’t blow us up?”
“Because I’m going to use it to blow them up first.” Cedric smirked. “When I give my mark, tell the men to get to cover. This isn’t one of those sparkling sticks the court mages use at the king’s birthday. This could damage the wall, and anyone not taking cover.”
He looked at Alwyn. “But if it goes off, there won’t be much of an army left out there.”
Alwyn nodded and got to work, barking at the men as he climbed back up the wall. While he was halfway up the ladder, however, the wall shuddered, a heavy thud ringing out.
Wood cracked. Even the layer of ancient steel supporting it was dented slightly.
The arc-elephants, Cedric realized.
They didn’t attack Aevelia’s gates. They didn’t need to. They were just going to ram their way through regardless.
He was glad he persuaded Gruldon to reinforce the wall. Without the sheet of ancient steel supporting it, the elephant would’ve broken through in a single ram.
Thud.
But it didn’t look like it’d hold forever. Cedric had to act now.
“Myra, Arcaeus,” he said, looking at them. “Spread the word: as soon as I set the device off, everyone needs to run to whatever cover they can find. Even if the fire doesn’t reach us, the shockwave might throw some of us off our feet.”
Myra and Arcaeus nodded, running off to join the men on the ground.
Cedric turned to Walt. “Walt, I need you to cover me.”
“Cover you?” Walt quirked an eyebrow. “Aren’t you just going to throw it?”
“I don’t think I can throw it far enough,” Cedric explained. The orb wasn’t terribly heavy, but with its heft, he couldn’t hurl it deep enough into the army. “I’ll need to deliver it to Veyn personally.”
“Deliver it?” Walt furrowed his brow in concern. “How’ll you clear the blast?”
Cedric drew Sylver from his sheath. “I’ll be fine. But I need you to cover me until I can get deep enough into their ranks. And when the time comes, I need you to hit the orb with a bolt.”
“I-I don’t know if I can make that shot,” Walt said. “I’ve only had my crossbow for a few—”
Cedric put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You can make it. I believe in you.”
He didn’t just believe in Walt’s ability, though. Like Myra, Walt grew stronger as Cedric did.
He and Myra had both just been upgraded after Cedric acquired the Scroll of Returning. Though he didn’t feel it himself, Walt was a far better shot than any man atop the wall right now.
And they couldn’t afford a missed shot.
Walt nodded. He unhooked his crossbow from his belt.
Cedric rushed up to the ladder and climbed. As he did, the arc-elephant rammed itself into the wall repeatedly. Cedric and Walt clutched onto the rickety wooden ladders, climbing best they could.
When he scaled to the top, he saw the carnage unfolding beyond the wall.
The Empire’s men threw themselves at the wall with reckless abandon, as if they didn’t care how badly it hurt them or how little it did. They threw themselves like madmen, crashing their bodies against the wood and snarling. The ones with maces and hammers swung their weapons recklessly, taking out chunks out of the wood, and chunks out of their comrades’ faces.
Cedric set the crate down and carefully withdrew the orb. He tucked it under his arm as firmly, then looked at Alwyn, who’d taken up a bow to help his men.
“Make sure everyone takes cover,” Cedric said, stepping onto the spiked wood at the top of the wall. He drew Sylver from his sheath.
“Godspeed, Cedric Blackfell,” Alwyn said, loosing an arrow with a loud thwap. “Godspeed.”
Cedric stepped off the edge, aiming for a gap in the knots of the Empire’s men. As tipped forward and over the wall, he called on Time Bend, slowing time’s effect on himself and the rate of his descent. He cut its effects when he was halfway down, landing with a firm thud.
His lifespan flashed before his eyes, but he dismissed the glowing text with a swift jerk of his head. And just in time.
One of the Empire’s men came roaring, his barbed mace held over his head. Cedric slipped past as he brought his mace crashing into the dirt, then spun, whipping Sylver at the man’s back. He slashed through the man’s side as he tried to swing his mace at Cedric.
And before the man hit the dirt, Cedric darted off. He couldn’t afford to waste a moment.
Some of the Empire’s men were starting to break off the wall and turn their attention to him. Before long, they’d surround him.
Cedric was about to call on Time Bend to speed himself up, but a better idea struck him when one of the arc-elephants crashed into the wall.
It lashed its trunk upward, trying to swat the man riding it off its back, but the rider yanked its chains back, bringing it to heel. Its chained mouth released a pain cry as the rider readied the beast for another charge at Aevelia’s wall.
Instead of calling on Time Bend right away, he called on Temporal Link first. He thrust his hand toward the arc-elephant, using his body to direct his magic amid the chaos of the battlefield. When the arc-elephant began to glow white, outlined by Cedric’s magic, he turned Temporal Link on himself, linking him and the arc-elephant.
And with his Temporal Link in place, Cedric called on Time Bend.
[Remaining lifespan: 29 years, 10 months, 29 days, 11 hours, 46 minutes, and 56 seconds. ]
He accelerated himself, shoving his magic into the spell aggressively. Above his trickling lifespan, he saw a percentage ticking up.
+5%
+10%
+20%
As the percentage of his speed-up ticked up, the world around him slowed at the same rate. Soldiers’ mouths hung open as their roars escaped their maws. Arc-lions clawed at the wall, their paws dragged at a crawl. The volley of arrows flying from Aevelia’s archers hung in the air, drifting toward their targets like snowflakes in a gentle breeze.
The arc-elephant ramming the wall, however, came to a dead stop. The percentage over it flashed urgently:
-188%
And Cedric’s own percentage sped-up to match it. At plus one hundred eighty-eight percent, he gave himself a moment to catch his breath.
The men approaching him, blades and maces and hammers high, were all but frozen before him. Clutching the magical device under his arm, he slipped past them, ducking beneath their arms.
He weaved through the next knot of soldiers similarly. He ducked beneath blades, weaved past men marching toward the wall, and hopped over the men who’d taken fatal arrows.
His lifespan trickled away as he moved, but he was careful not to rush. Behind him, a trail of white ethereal echoes of himself stretched all the way back up the wall, following his every move.
But as he advanced, the echoes faded, falling out of the three-minute expiry window. He kept an eye on it, glancing back as he moved. The echoes were his way out of the coming explosion.
Almost there, Cedric thought, steeling himself as he saw the most distant echoes fade away. When he got to the center of the Empire’s focus, he’d set off the device and decimate their ranks. He just had to get deep enough, and with all the soldiers around him frozen in time, there was no one to—
Whoosh.
Bitter heat flared against the side of his face, the golden light almost blinding. A fireball roared toward him.
Cedric threw himself back. As he fell, the fireball sailed past his face, its heat singing his right cheek. Cedric stumbled back, hitting the ground hard. The fireball flew at an upward angle, soaring skyward before dissipating.
How? Everyone should be—
Another fireball roared toward him from his left. Cedric stirred, rolling onto his feet and dashing forward. The fireball hit the dirt where he’d been a moment before, letting out a sharp hiss.
Cedric’s eyes darted from the left to the right. A pair of mages stepped out from behind the soldiers. Each of them wore a heavy-looking steel harness over their robes.
They too glowed with white light, as if affected by Cedric’s time magic. Their forms crackled and flickered, their edges jittery as if time itself was trying to claw them back into line.
They shouldn’t be able to move as quickly as Cedric. And yet, they were.
Cocky smiles cracked their lips beneath their cowls. Fire crackled in their palms, worming itself between their fingers.
Cedric wasn’t sure how they were able to keep up with him, but as the pair of mages each launched another fireball at him, he didn’t have time to muse about it. Cedric hopped backward, out of their path.
