Age of Asura [Progression, LitRPG, Apocalypse]

Uruvi let out a loud squeal and raised her axe, ready to bring it down onto the young boy who stood before her. He immediately put his hands up and said, “wait! Wait! I am the good guy!”

She stopped mid-motion and took another look at him. He looked young, very young, with the face of a kid. There was no sign of any facial hair, while the hair atop his head was long and lustrous black. “What are you doing here, kid?” she asked.

“Surviving. Like everyone else,” he replied.

“Good answer.” She lowered her axe.

“I saw what you and your friends did earlier. You really fucked their shit up!” He said with a giant smile on his face.

‘Yup. He is definitely a kid.’ She put the axe behind her and asked, “what’s your name?”

“Ashish.”

“Uruvi. You live here?”

“I do.”

“Okay! Do you have any idea what is happening here? Where is everyone?” she asked.

“Depends. A good chunk of them turned into those monsters. Plenty of them fled the old city, and the rest, well, they are either dead or hiding in their hideouts.”

“Oh wow.” She looked around the place, which looked completely deserted. “You mean to say there is no one here?”

“I saw a few hiding in groups. Waiting to ambush each other. Lucky that you haven’t run into any of them.”

“Guessing you saw the whole thing go down?” she asked.

“Kinda. When the whole thing started, the gangs started working together and clearing out the monsters, saving people. But I don’t know what happened. Once the leaderboard came up, they turned on each other almost immediately. I thought they were just trying to stay away from the bottom. But a good number of them went after Rank 1, Sashwat. It was a bloodbath. He slaughtered them mercilessly. Since then, the gangs have been at each other’s throats. At the moment, they have retreated into their burrows.”

“I see.” That gave her a clear picture of what transpired in the city. She saw that he was carrying a sword behind his back. “Are you a contestant?”

He nodded. “Yup. Though I am not as badass as you.”

“Huh?”

“Not much of a fighter. I just do the stabby stabby and run away. Only monsters… so far,” he explained.

“Then what are you doing here?”

He fell silent and wore a guilty expression on his face. Uruvi caught on quickly. “Did you happen to run into a certain blacksmith?”

He was taken aback. “You know him, too?”

“Yeah, and he told me that he had sent other people down here.”

“Oh. Well, I didn’t meet anyone else.”

“Maybe that is for the best. How did he tempt you to do his bidding?” she asked.

“A legendary weapon.”

She let out a chuckle and said, “we both are idiots.”

***

They climb onto the roof of a building, which provided them with the vantage point over Nanda’s little hideout. Uruvi watched the red sun touching the horizon; it was a constant reminder to her about the urgency of their situation. While there was technically no clock running against them, failing to create the rule by midnight meant the death of thousands, or perhaps even millions.

Ashish leaned over the parapet and pointed at a square building with an open courtyard in the center. “There. That is his house.”

She took a closer look at it. It certainly was no mansion, but the house sat plum in a dense urban layout. She could see several men policing the streets around the area. “I get why they are all in one place, but they all seem to be on high alert,” she said.

“Pretty much. Of the four gangs, one was decimated a few hours ago by an ambush.”

“Oh wow. An entire gang? Who destroyed whom?”

“Rajan’s gang ambushed Arshid’s gang. I don’t think anyone from Arshid’s gang survived.”

“So, we got Nanda, Arshid, Rajan, and who is the fourth one?” she asked.

“Gurunath.”

‘I hope I don’t have to cross paths with anyone else.’ She thought. “Let’s see here. I see 5… 9… 12… 15… Yeah. I count 15 patrolling the streets.” ‘Arya. Can you tell me what level they are? Also, can you confirm if they are contestants?’

“Affirmative. The members of Nanda’s gang range from level 13 to 16. Most of the men are contestants,” said Arya.

‘Wait. That is doable.’ She observed the weapons in their hands. They all were holding melee weapons. She saw swords, clubs, and daggers. ‘No guns… But can’t count them out.’

“Right. It is tough. But I think we can draw them towards one side and make our way…”

Uruvi interrupted him. “That won’t be necessary.”

He looked at her, confused. “Why?”

“The jewel is not as important to me as the experience from kicking their asses.”

“Huh? Experience?”

“Yes. Long story, will tell later.” She leaned over the parapet and continued, “I can deal with their swords and maces. But I am not sure how to deal with their guns.”

“If that is your only worry. I can help you there.”

***

Uruvi approached the street that led into the gangster’s den. She adjusted the gauntlets on her hands, making sure to get a feel for them. “Alright. Let’s see how good these legendary weapons really are.”

She lunged forward and dashed through the empty street before taking a sharp turn and landing right in front of a small crowd. The men quickly jumped to their feet with their hands on their weapons. They exchanged confused looks before one of them asked, “who the fuck are you?”

“Macha! (Bro) She is a contestant!” said another one. That was all the motivation they needed to go after her.

Uruvi let a grin escape her lips. Her eyes scanned the gangsters coming at her. ‘Alright! Let’s fight!’

She tightened her fists, bringing them up before her face. The crowd moved in unison; their weapons were raised and ready to strike. “Mark them!” Their movement slowed down enough for her to shift through the gaps and dodged their attacks.

They rushed past her and were forced to turn around.

She lunged forward and slammed her fist into the first opponent’s stomach. He rose into the air while his face was contorted. His health dropped to near zero before falling to the ground unconscious. ‘One shot! Come on!’

A blade cut through the air, nearly slicing through her neck. She leapt back just in time before dashing forward and striking the wielder in his shoulder. He dropped the blade and staggered back towards the others. She delivered a swift kick to his torso, throwing him back onto the ground.

She effortlessly dodged their attacks before delivering clean hits to their weak points. Within seconds, the crowd of men was on the ground, seething in pain.

“New Level attained. 5 Attribute points, 1 skill point, and 1 spell point gained.”

‘Nice! I am getting the points I need!’ She counted six on the ground. ‘I won’t be able to hit even twenty, but I shouldn’t be worrying about it now.’

She spun around and dashed forward, following the path that led deeper into the maze. Just as she was about to reach an intersection, a man with brooding arms lunged at her and slammed her into the ground. She twisted her body and threw him off her, only to find another coming down onto her with an axe in his hands.

“Thunderclap!” she said. The resulting shockwave sent him flying into the air, whereupon he was hit by a flying object that knocked his health bar to zero. ‘God, I hope he is fine.’

She hopped back onto her feet and turned towards the opponent who tackled her to the ground. He was struggling to get back onto his feet, and she made it easier for him by putting him to rest with a punch to his face. ‘Eight down, seven more to go.’

She turned around the corner and saw three men standing in line. They had their pistols ready to fire. ‘Here we go!’

“Fire everything!” commanded one of them.

“Barricade!”

A barrage of bullets slammed into her shield, which shook violently with each hit. ‘Ashish… I hope you got this!’

Suddenly, the bullets curved upwards and away from Uruvi. Seizing the opportunity, she rushed forward. The three men dropped their guns and fled the scene. However, they were immediately replaced by four others.

Red aura enveloped her as she reached the first opponent. “Domino!” She struck him through his blade with a charged punch, which propagated through the remaining three. She quickly followed it up with a flurry of punches, finishing the last of them.

She struck a pose and let out a hungry growl. ‘Now, that was fun. I didn’t even have to use the fire!’

Ashish leapt from the roof and landed beside Uruvi.

“How did you do that?” asked Uruvi.

He pointed at the blade on his back and said, “It’s my sword. It has magnetic properties and can attract any metal.”

“That is not how magnetism works,” said Uruvi.

He looked dumbfounded and simply uttered, “huh?”

She turned towards the house and said, “we will talk later, time to finish the job.”

They rushed past the patio and through the open door. The inside of the house was drenched in darkness. While the open courtyard provided some light, much of it was still shrouded in darkness. She took a quick look around when her eyes were drawn towards a room with an open door. Inside stood a young woman, with fear-struck eyes, holding a gun pointed right at them.

“Shit…,” said Uruvi.

The woman pulled the trigger, sending a loud bang echoing through the empty house.

Uruvi pulled Ashish closer and shouted, “barricade!”

Six bullets flew through the air and smashed into her shield. Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, Ashish called her name. She turned around and saw a gargantuan figure swing his mace right into her torso. The shield shattered, and she was sent flying across the hall before crashing into the well-groomed garden in the courtyard.

“Urgh!” She tasted sand in her mouth, which she immediately spat out. She felt like she was hit by a truck, her body took a second to recover from the impact.

“You kill my men and walk into my house as if you own it?” said a deep, gruff voice.

She pushed herself up and turned around to face a colossal figure standing underneath the shade of the roof. ‘Oh wow. So he is Nanda?’

He tapped his mace onto the ground and said, “you want a fight? Fine. Let’s fight.”