Rise of the Undead Legion

Chapter 525: In Tartarus

Stalwart Dave raced through the wilds. Every paw, every jump, and every sprint felt liberating. The black stalwart's massive form was not a hindrance to Dave but a bonus that added momentum, it didn't care about the obstacles in its way. Every rock was trammeled to dust. Every tree the Chosen Stalwart grazed with its body turned to flames. And every tree that it bore right through became flaming cinders.

The heat emanating from its body made the stalwart an enemy of nature. But thanks to the increasing body heat of the Stalwart, its HP gradually rose. Healing some of the wounds that the battle against the Undead had caused.

Soon, Urburg was in sight. And the moment Dave's form became apparent, undead in droves rushed to the outskirt of Urburg, readied up their shields, and prepared for battle.

"Stand down!" Dave called and the sound came from between the shark-like smile of the Stalwart.

The undead didn't understand at first, but the order came against their will, a superior had spoken and they were bound to oblige. They made way for the obsidian stalwart to cross and move to the city center right next to the gate.

Nick and Death came out of the pub.

"This is actually not bad, if Asmodeus isn't alerted he'd never notice." Death said.

"Yeah, even when I'm right next to him unless I exert an effort, he looks like a perfect Stalwart for me. Dagla had made some serious efforts. How did you do it?" Nick asked.

"Dagla gave me a candle."

"Oh, Sorrow of the Soul. It's a rare thing in this world, I suppose not many are left. That's a precious item, it made your possession smoother and without greater mental conflict than it should. But, the stalwart you're possessing isn't going to take this and keep quiet. You'll have to be careful."

"What do you mean?" Dave asked.

"The health, once it's healed enough, it will try and wrest away control. And you really don't want that, especially with your original body inside its stomach." Nick grinned.

"I shouldn't have let it eat me, should I?"

"You'll have an even harder time controlling it if your body wasn't close. Now let me open the passage for you." Nick said.

He pointed at the well that was just a few steps away from the teleportation gate, and soon, its water overflew. The water that that gathered around the well didn't seep through the ground but floated and hovered at the well's level. Creating a large circular watery form.

The water changed color to that of the darkest shades of orange. "Once you have the flame, come back to the same spot you were teleported to. I can't guarantee where you'll find yourself in hell, but I made sure that your entry is impossible to notice

Asmodeus is not going to be on the lookout because he'd never think that you'll be in hell, but once you're discovered. Not even I can help you."

"Yeah, I'll make sure to stay low," Dave said.

"Hop in," Nick said.

Dave jumped into the orange water and he found himself in a fast speeding tunnel. The tunnel was made of a wall of souls, fused together in malformed and tormented shapes. They screeched and howled, in agony and sufferance. Seeking an exit to the world below, never finding respite and forever bound to the tunnel's walls.

Dave was dropping fast to the bottom of the tunnel. And with each passing second, the depth of the tunnel turned darker and darker, and the howl of the souls turned louder and more agonizing.

Soon he saw light at the end of the tunnel, only the light was that of flames, so high and so hot that no living thing could ever survive under these circumstances.

***

Welcome to Tartarus.

You are the first player to ever set foot in these lands.

All slain monsters will give double their EXP in rewards.

All monsters will drop the best equipment possible on the first kill.

This will last for a duration of One Week of game time.

***

Dave noticed that the heat from Tartarus was not causing him any discomfort, but on the opposite, for the Stalwart, Dave felt its body rejuvenating at a far faster rate than before.

"Damn, at this rate the Stalwart will be full health in less than an hour," Dave grumbled. He looked around to inspect his surroundings.

The air was filled with soot and sulfurous smoke. What little light that was present was a sullen, reddish hue and shone up from the ground not down from the sky.

Adding to the natural volcanic light, scattered everywhere Dave looked, were shallow lakes of fire. The fires were burning the flesh of man and beast. Hundreds of thousands of creatures in single file lines, linked with chain, were being forced into the flames to be burnt alive, but never knowing true death. They emerged from the far side of a lake and trudged to the next burning basin. The cinder filled wind brought the wails and dismal screams of the victims to the shadow.

Dave felt irritated, "Whoever runs this place got something messed up in the head."

Dave walked forward, there was a massive mountain in the distance where a palace stood tall, overseeing the entirety of the place.

"Nick didn't give me any clear indication of where to find this flame. But seeing that palace over there, I'd wager that it's where the flame is placed. But how can I get there with this dammed beast of a body?"

Before Dave's thinking process ended, a Sworn Stalwart came by to Dave and began sniffing at him.

Irritated, Dave slammed the Stalwart in the face with a paw and growled.

The smaller Stalwart reared back, whined, and turned tail moving away.

"I guess this body works on instinct, I didn't even move it but it slapped the other Stalwart away on its own. Territory? Or perhaps to show dominance."

Dave took note of the Chosen Stalwart's behavior and moved forward. He didn't have a lot of time left; he could feel his grip on the Stalwart's psychic growing weaker by the passing minute. Once the Stalwart was full health, Dave was sure he'll have a hard time reigning it in control.

After half an hour jog, Dave was at the base of the mountain where the palace was situated at. Remove the stench, the screaming souls, and the insufferable heat, this place wouldn't be so bad to build a base for the undead, Dave thought.

Few more Stalwarts were moving up the mountain, perhaps they were summoned there. It worked best for Dave, he needed to get closer to have a better look.

It didn't take the Stalwart much time to get to the top of the mountain and into the palace entrance. Surprisingly, the entrance was so wide that it could fit several Stalwarts side by side. Even the palace was massively large that he saw some of the Stalwarts resting on the towers or on the walls.

"Good, this won't be suspicious if I were to walk up and have a look around."

Before Dave could even take a step. The sky above him, darker than it should begin swirling and twirling, creating a shape that was as far away from a human as it could.

The wisps of dispersed smoke coalesced back together, burning bright red and forming into the silhouette of a many-limbed scaly creature with a pig's body and a dragon's head and neck.

But rising from the middle of the pig's back was a fat human torso with three heads. The middle head was a man's head with horns, it was flanked by a cow head on one side and a sheep head on the other.

The entity gazed down on the stalwarts moving toward his palace and dissipated once again into smoke that swirled and funneled into the top of the palace.

"That was awfully suspicious," Dave mumbled to himself and moved through the palace gate.

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